A spacewalking astronaut fixed a damaged solar power wing on the International Space Station today in a daring and unprecedented outing that clears NASA to continue construction of the orbital outpost.
Shuttle Discovery's lead spacewalker Scott Parazynski, anchored on an extension boom on the station's robot arm, delicately snipped snarled wires and attached five home-made braces to replace hinges that broke while one of the station's 110-foot (33.5 meters) long solar power wings was being extended on Tuesday.
Scott Parazynski dismounts from the boom arm attached to International S Station's robot arm
The shuttle and space station crews cheered when the last of the golden panels were pulled out of their storage box and the wing finally reached its full length, providing structural rigidity.
NASA had said it could not continue construction of the station if the wing had remained partly retracted.
The unprecedented repair, planned on the fly, clears the US space agency for launching Europe's Columbus laboratory in December, pending no other technical issues.
"What an accomplishment," Parazynski said. "Congratulations to the whole flight team that came up with this brilliant concept."