The Week in Space

November 29 - December 5, 2010

 

 

Hungry for Power  Until November 2000, the fledgling International Space Station derived power from two small sets of solar panels on the Zarya and Zvezda modules. The STS-97 mission, launched ten years ago this week, saw the delivery of the first of four 240-foot-long solar array panels—the largest ever flown in space—which provided thirty-two kilowatts of DC power and quintupled the power available to the outpost. The solar array and its P6 truss were originally mounted to the central Z1 truss, as seen here, but were redeployed in 2007 to their permanent position at the end of the 300-foot-long Integrated Truss Structure, which was assembled over several shuttle flights. STS-97 was also the first mission to dock with an inhabited ISS, whose Expedition 1 crew had been on board for a month.

Image credit: NASA


 

Weekly Calendar

November 29 - December 5, 2010

Holidays - Sky Events - Space History

 

Moon phase Monday 29

Juno 0.5° north of Moon

1967: First Australian satellite launched

 

Moon phase Tuesday 30

Moon at perigee

1954: Elizabeth Hodges bruised by a ten-pound meteorite in Alabama
2000: STS-97 Endeavour launched

 

Moon phase Wednesday 1

Hanukkah begins at sunset

Mercury at greatest elongation (21° E)
Saturn 8° north of Moon

1957: Ballistic shape of Mercury spacecraft proposed by Max Faget

 

Moon phase Thursday 2

Venus 6° north of Moon

1974: Pioneer 11 closest approach to Jupiter during flyby 
1988: STS-27 Atlantis launched 
1990: STS-35 Columbia launched
1992: STS-53 Discovery launched
1993: STS-61 Endeavour launched
1995: SOHO launched

 

Moon phase Friday 3

1973: Pioneer 10 closest approach to Jupiter during flyby

 

Moon phase Saturday 4

Venus greatest illuminated extent

1965: Gemini VII launched
1978: Pioneer-Venus 1 orbiter arrives in orbit around Venus
1996: Mars Pathfinder launched
1998: STS-88 Endeavour launched

 

Moon phase Sunday 5

New Moon 12:36 PM ET

2001: STS-108 Endeavour launched


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