NASA Astronauts Find Tear In Solar Panel Of ISS

Boston (dbTechno) - NASA astronauts on a spacewalk around the International Space Station have spotted a tear in the Solar Power Tower to the International Space Station.

The tear was found in the 2nd solar panel. On Tuesday the astronauts tried to do some repairs to the solar power tower as they bolted the tower directly to the International Space Station. The hope is that this will keep it from moving and prevent any further tearing while the problem is fixed.

All was good until a rip was spotted in the second solar panel, causing an alarming situation for NASA. The tower needs to be functional in order for station equipment on the ISS to work in time for European and Asian research laboratories to head up to the ISS and link up.

The astronauts doing work on the solar tower Douglas Wheelock and Scott Parazynski halted as soon as they saw the rip next to the edge of the solar panel.

The move by NASA to try and stop the rotary joint from moving freely will cause the ISS to lose the ability to generate massive amounts of power.

NASA is currently looking over images gathered during the spacewalk to determine the best course of action from here.