WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

In the Space Station Processing Facility, an overhead crane lifts the lower deck solar array wing scheduled to launch on International Space Station mission 12A, STS-115. The solar array is being removed in preparation for replacement of aging flight batteries. The currently installed batteries have an expected on-orbit lifetime of approximately four years. New batteries are being installed to ensure that the batteries do not exceed their lifetime expectancy prior to their planned logistics resupply on-orbit. The new batteries will have a lifetime expectancy of approximately 7 years.