June 16 () –
Two NASA astronauts deployed the sixth and final (for now) set of improved solar arrays to the International Space Station, increasing your energy supply.
This June 15, Warren “Woody” Hoburg and Stephen Bowen completed in 5 hours and 35 minutes their second joint extravehicular activity (EVA) in just under a week to deploy two new iROSA solar arrays, bringing the installed total to 6, reports NASA.
The roll-out solar array installed earlier today by @NASA_Astronauts Steve Bowen @Astro_Woody unfolds as Earth glows in the background. When fully unrolled, it will span 60 feet long by 20 feet wide. watch live… https://t.co/cBNqC5Ke07 pic.twitter.com/DRaNzqrqFw
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) June 15, 2023
Each iROSA measures 18.2 by 6 meters. When deployed, each overlaps its corresponding legacy solar array by slightly more than half. Since each one produces more than 20 kilowatts of electricity, with six new devices installed, the station now is capable of a 30% increase in power production alone over the station’s legacy panels.
It took two years, minus one day, to implement all six iROSA suites, with the first rolling out on June 16, 2021.
NASA and Boeing have a plan for a fourth pair of deployment sets to further increase the power supplied to the International Space Station. These sets, which would be the seventh and eighth to be installed, are intended to be delivered to the orbiting laboratory by 2025, reports Space.com.
