How NASA is upgrading the International Space Station’s ancient power system

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An ISS Roll-Out Solar Array (iROSA) is deployed in 2001. The solar arrays are slowly being added to the space station to boost its available power. | Image: NASA

In the next few weeks, astronauts will be heading out of the airlock on the International Space Station (ISS) on a series of three spacewalks, part of a long-term plan to upgrade the space station’s aging power system.

The ISS uses large solar arrays to collect energy from the Sun and convert it into usable electricity for everything from life support and temperature controls to communications with Earth and propulsion systems to allow the station to dodge debris.

The old ISS power system, including eight solar arrays that spread out from the exterior of the station like wings, had been able to meet the power needs of the station to date by generating an average of between 84 and 120 kilowatts of electricity. However, some of the...

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