Electrical System of The International Space Station - Solar Array Wing

Solar Array Wing

See also: Integrated Truss Structure#Truss subsystems

Each ISS solar array wing (often abbreviated "SAW") consists of two retractable "blankets" of solar cells with a mast between them. Each wing uses nearly 33,000 solar cells and when fully extended is 35 metres (115 ft) in length and 12 metres (39 ft) wide. When retracted, each wing folds into a solar array blanket box just 51 centimetres (20 in) high and 4.57 metres (15.0 ft) in length. The ISS now has the full complement of eight solar array wings.

The solar arrays normally track the Sun, with the "alpha gimbal" used as the primary rotation to follow the Sun as the space station moves around the Earth, and the "beta gimbal" used to adjust for the angle of the space station's orbit to the ecliptic. Several different tracking modes are used in operations, ranging from full Sun-tracking, to the drag-reduction mode ("Night glider" and "Sun slicer" modes), to a drag-maximization mode used to lower the altitude. See more details in the article at Night Glider mode.

Read more about this topic:  Electrical System Of The International Space Station

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