NASA prepping for spacewalk Monday

December 17th, 2006

Houston, TX - A change of plans has the space shuttle Discovery's astronauts prepping for a fourth spacewalk to get a half-retracted solar array to fold up.

A change of plans has the space shuttle Discovery's astronauts prepping for a fourth spacewalk to get a half-retracted solar array to fold up.

The STS-116 crew is preparing today for an additional spacewalk to complete the retraction of the P6 solar array. The spacewalk, scheduled for Monday, was added to the schedule Saturday.

The decision was made after progress was made in retracting the array during Saturday's excursion. Spacewalkers Robert Curbeam and Sunita Williams assisted in the process by shaking the array wing which helped flight controllers retract more of the array. Efforts were suspended due to time constraints. Eleven of the 21 bays remain unfurled. Prior to Saturday's efforts 17 remained unfurled.

Curbeam and Mission Specialist Christer Fuglesang will resume the shaking activities during the spacewalk, slated to begin at 1:47 p.m. EST Monday. The spacewalk will be Curbeam's fourth during the mission and Fuglesang's third.

Today's preparations include flight controllers finalizing the spacewalk's timeline, which will be reviewed by the crew later today. The crew will also prepare tools and spacesuits for the excursion. Curbeam and Fuglesang will complete the day's preparations by spending the night in the Quest Airlock for the pre-spacewalk campout.

With the added spacewalk, the STS-116 crew's stay at the station has been extended to Tuesday. Undocking is now set for 5:09 p.m. Landing is now targeted for 3:55 p.m. Friday at Kennedy Space Center, Fla.