14 DAY TRIAL // Discovery's crew has been successful in repairing one of the two troublesome solar panels that power the International Space Station, and are now ready to come back to Earth.
The re-entry is scheduled for the 6th of November. During this mission, the astronauts have embarked in a seven-hour repair, making it the highest-risk mission ever to take place in the history of NASA.
Discovery's mission to the International Space Station, was supposed to be routine, and involved delivering a new module plus some maintenance to some of the equipment. It suddenly became complicated when a repair to a rotary joint showed some metal shavings - evidence of broken components, and after a mild accident involving another solar panel that snagged onto some guiding cables while it was being unfolded.
The crew had to abandon the rotary joint fixing, since they did not have the necessary equipment to replace the damaged component, and focused on the ripped solar panel. After a few days of careful planning, NASA decided that astronaut Scott Parazynski would make an unprecedented spacewalk.
The repair mission took place on Sunday, and was successfully completed, now the solar panel being fully operational and delivers power. This was crucial to NASA's plants in the coming months, to further expand the International Space Station.
The solar panel is 35 meters in length, and due to the fact that it was still partially functional while it was being repaired, special attention was needed as more that 100 volts of electricity could have posed serious security problems to the astronaut making the repair.
The Discovery shuttle now prepares to unlock from the space station, and return to Earth. The crew experienced a highly emotional moment during the farewell ceremony, two men trading places on the space station: Clayton Anderson, who has been in orbit on board of the station for five months, and Daniel Tani, who is starting a two months long mission.