Spacewalking astronaut fixes station's wing

By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - A spacewalking astronaut fixed a damaged solar power wing on the International Space Station on Saturday during 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, snipped snarled wires and attached five home-made braces to replace hinges that broke while one of the station's 110-foot-long (33.5-metre-long) solar power wings was extended on Tuesday.

The shuttle and space station crews cheered when the last of the golden panels were pulled out of their storage box and the wing 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 U.S. space agency for launching Europe's Columbus laboratory next month.

"What an accomplishment," Parazynski said. "Congratulations to the whole flight team that came up with this brilliant concept."

Throughout the seven-hour spacewalk, flight directors kept a worried eye on the clock.

The 45-minute commute from the worksite to the airlock was a concern -- NASA likes keep travel time under 30 minutes -- and the extension boom, which was borrowed from the shuttle, risked being damaged if it remained unpowered and without heating for too long in the cold of space.

"OH, THAT'S JUST UGLY"