Glitch on International Space Station

HOUSTON, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- A spacewalk was planned for the space shuttle crew despite failure of one of the International Space Station's solar arrays to fold properly.

Although 17 of the 31 bays of the P6 port solar array retracted Wednesday, a new set of arrays was successfully installed and National Aeronautics and Space Administration mission controllers in Houston reported the array was tracking the sun and generating maximum power.

That event set the stage for the two remaining spacewalks by space shuttle Discovery's STS-116 crew to rewire the station's power system.

More than 40 unsuccessful commands were sent to furl and unfurl the malfunctioning P6 arrays in an attempt to properly align them. NASA engineers Thursday were to explore options for completing the solar array folding.

Astronauts Bob Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang, who conducted the mission's first spacewalk, were to start Thursday's orbital stroll at 3:12 p.m. EST. They were to begin rewiring the station, bringing power generated by the newly installed solar arrays on line and prepare for the addition of more arrays next year.