Generating electricity from the sun is no new information. But, when all these happen in the outer world, it does deserve a headline! NASA has, for the first time, unfurled new solar wings in the International Space Station.
Looking like a giant accordion stretched out in orbit, the wings are 240-foot long and will provide the space station about a quarter of power, when the orbiting outpost is completed in 2010. A mechanism allows the solar panels to move with the sun, thus the generation of the amount of electricity is maximized.
The solar wings are part of a new, $372 million addition! It arrived aboard Atlantis earlier this week. The wings were folded up and mounted on blankets during the ride into space.
