A power glitch delayed the ISS’s final solar array. Then the astronauts got it unfurled

The final array is in place

Two astronauts installed and deployed the International Space Station’s eighth and final roll-out solar array on November 5, completing a power upgrade that began in 2021. The job nearly paused when flight controllers saw only half the expected electrical current in a circuit, but the crew checked the connections and the array unfurled successfully.nasa +1

NASA’s Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk finished the spacewalk at 20:35 UTC after six hours and 59 minutes outside. NASA says the eight new arrays raise the station’s power-generation capacity from 160 kilowatts to about 215 kilowatts, helping sustain a laboratory whose older panels have degraded with age.nasa +1

A pause for orbital night

The astronauts used the station’s robotic arm to move the roughly 340-kilogram assembly to a mounting bracket on the station’s 3B power channel. After it was secured and connected, ground controllers saw about half the expected shunt current and held off on deployment.space +1

Because solar arrays generate electricity when illuminated, the crew had to wait until the station passed into Earth’s shadow to inspect a connector. Once the current readings were satisfactory, the team cleared deployment. The flexible array then unrolled to roughly 19 metres without a motor, using energy stored in its rolled-up support booms.space +1

Why the station needed more power

The new panels supplement rather than replace the original solar wings, which have lost output as they aged beyond their design life. Electricity powers life-support equipment, daily operations and scientific experiments aboard the station.space +1

The roll-out design was tested on the station in 2017. It launches compactly, then opens after installation; NASA says the newer arrays are about half the size of the older ones. Six were installed between 2021 and 2023, and another pair was ordered after later power projections.nasa

Menon and Kutryk installed the seventh array on October 29 during Kutryk’s first spacewalk. Their return a week later brought the installation campaign to an end: NASA says crews performed 18 spacewalks in all to prepare equipment and install the eight arrays.asc-csa +1