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Shuttle Crew Faces 'Complex Mission' On ISS

POSTED: Tuesday, December 5, 2006

UPDATED: 12:19 pm EST December 5, 2006

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Shuttle Discovery's seven astronauts are about to embark on a difficult and dangerous attempt to rewire the electrical system that powers the American side of the International Space Station, according to Local 6 News partner Florida Today.

Set for launch from Kennedy Space Center 9:36 p.m. Thursday, the orbital construction crew first plans to add a new girder to the station's metallic backbone -- a high-precision job during which crane operators will have clearances as tight as two inches.

A solar panel that's been in orbit for six years must be rolled up like a window shade to allow a new solar wing to rotate for the first time so it can track the sun and maximize electrical output.

No one is sure the old array will retract. But the job must be done to proceed with the rewiring work, which calls for half of the electricity to the U.S. segment to be shut down, Florida Today reported.

Lab lights and communications links with ground controllers will be cut off, and like electricians on Earth, the astronauts will face electric shock hazards. What's more, the crew must start critical cooling pumps that have not been turned on.

No one at NASA expects the 12-day mission to come off without trouble, and there is more than ample opportunity for things to go seriously wrong.

"This is a truly, truly, truly complex mission," NASA space operations chief Bill Gerstenmaier said.

For more information on this story, please check Florida Today.

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Shuttle Crew Faces 'Complex Mission' On ISS

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