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Space Walk

Mar 20, 2009

New solar panels will soon be giving the International Space Station a power boost after astronauts completed the first of three space walks to fit them.

Astronauts Steve Swanson and Richard Arnold – who blasted off on board the space shuttle Discover on Monday – spent about six hours outside the space station, guiding its last set of solar wings into place.

NASA hopes the extra power means it will be able to double the number of crew at the ISS to six.

The new panels may also make the space stations easier to see from Earth. If you look in the right place in sky just after the sun sets, the ISS looks like a bright star, moving fast. The new panels will make it appear even brighter.

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