The remaining two channels will be rewired during the mission's third spacewalk, slated for Saturday. The STS-116 crew is performing the electrical work to bring power generated by the P4 solar arrays on line for use by the station's systems and prepare for more arrays to be added next year.

Curbeam and Fuglesang are now focusing on the relocation of two crew equipment translation aid carts. This will clear the way for the station's mobile transporter rail car to move down the station's rail system to the S1 truss at a later date in preparation for the STS-117 mission next spring.

Pilot Bill Oefelein is coordinating the spacewalk activities. Expedition 14 Flight Engineer Sunita Williams is operating the station's robotic arm. The spacewalk is scheduled to last 5 hours and 55 minutes.

In other activities, STS-116 and Expedition 14 crew members are conducting cargo transfers between the Space Shuttle Discovery and the station.

Managers and engineers continue to explore options relating to the retraction of the port wing of the station's P6 truss. The wing was partly folded Wednesday; all but about 17 of its 31 bays were retracted. That was enough to allow the P4 solar arrays to begin their paddle-wheel-like rotation to track the sun for optimal power production. A decision on whether any further action will be taken to fully retract the array during the STS-116 mission is not expected before Saturday.

For the latest news and information on the International Space Station and the Expedition 14 crew, please visit the main station page.

earlier related report
On-Orbit Station Construction Continues

The International Space Station grew Tuesday when the STS-116 crew installed the P5 integrated truss segment. The P5 was attached at 5:45 p.m. EST.

The construction work was performed by STS-116 spacewalkers Bob Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang and robot arm operators Joan Higginbotham and Sunita Williams. The P5 spacer segment's attachment to the P4 sets the stage for the relocation of the P6 and its set of solar arrays.

Two more spacewalks are scheduled during STS-116's stay to reconfigure and redistribute power generated by the station's solar arrays. The spacewalks are set for Thursday and Saturday.

The P5's installation is not the only change that the station has undergone since Space Shuttle Discovery docked Monday. Williams, who arrived at the station with the STS-116 mission, replaced European Space Agency Astronaut Thomas Reiter on the Expedition 14 crew at midnight Tuesday.

Williams will remain a member of Expedition 14 until Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin are relieved by Expedition 15 in March 2007. Williams will finish her remaining time of her six-month tour of duty on the station as a member of Expedition 15.

Reiter will wrap up his stay on the station when he leaves with STS-116 next week. He arrived at the station in July with the STS-121 mission to give the station its first three-member crew since May 2003. He was a member of Expedition 13 until Expedition 14 began its tour of duty in September.

The crew rotation became official when their custom-made seatliners were swapped out in the Soyuz spacecraft docked to the station.

Also, the Expedition 14 and STS-116 crews will conduct a week of joint operations. In addition to the spacewalks, they will transfer cargo between the vehicles. Discovery and its crew are scheduled to stay at the station until Dec. 18.

Related Links
Space Station News at Space-Travel.Com
Space Shuttle News at Space-Travel.Com