In the Space Station Processing Facility, the lower deck solar array wing scheduled to launch on International Space Station mission 12A, STS-115, is lowered onto a work stand. 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.
Information
Taken in
Kennedy Space Center
Author
NASA
Description
In the Space Station Processing Facility, the lower deck solar array wing scheduled to launch on International Space Station mission 12A, STS-115, is lowered onto a work stand. 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.