November 29, 2010 - Hungry For Power
Hungry for Power Until November 2000, the fledgling International Space Station derived power from two small sets of solar panels on the Zarya and Zvezda modules. The STS-97 mission, launched ten years ago this week, saw the delivery of the first of four 240-foot-long solar array panels—the largest ever flown in space—which provided thirty-two kilowatts of DC power and quintupled the power available to the outpost. The solar array and its P6 truss were originally mounted to the central Z1 truss, as seen here, but were redeployed in 2007 to their permanent position at the end of the 300-foot-long Integrated Truss Structure, which was assembled over several shuttle flights. STS-97 was also the first mission to dock with an inhabited ISS, whose Expedition 1 crew had been on board for a month.
Image credit: NASA
Weekly Calendar
November 29 - December 5, 2010
Holidays - Sky Events - Space History
Monday 29
Juno 0.5° north of Moon
1967: First Australian satellite launched
Tuesday 30
Moon at perigee
1954: Elizabeth Hodges bruised by a ten-pound meteorite in Alabama
2000: STS-97 Endeavour launched
Wednesday 1
Hanukkah begins at sunset
Mercury at greatest elongation (21° E)
Saturn 8° north of Moon
1957: Ballistic shape of Mercury spacecraft proposed by Max Faget
Thursday 2
Venus 6° north of Moon
1974: Pioneer 11 closest approach to Jupiter during flyby
1988: STS-27 Atlantis launched
1990: STS-35 Columbia launched
1992: STS-53 Discovery launched
1993: STS-61 Endeavour launched
1995: SOHO launched
Friday 3
1973: Pioneer 10 closest approach to Jupiter during flyby
Saturday 4
Venus greatest illuminated extent
1965: Gemini VII launched
1978: Pioneer-Venus 1 orbiter arrives in orbit around Venus
1996: Mars Pathfinder launched
1998: STS-88 Endeavour launched
Sunday 5
New Moon 12:36 PM ET