Astronaut finds metal shavings on station

HOUSTON, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Engineers on Earth Sunday were trying to analyze metal shavings and unusual wear found on some equipment on the International Space Station.

The National Aeronautic and Space Administration said when Expedition 16 Flight Engineer Daniel Tani inspected a rotary joint used to rotate solar arrays he noticed the shavings and the unusual wear.

"The joint has been showing some increased friction lately, and engineers are analyzing potential causes," NASA.gov reported.

The astronauts aboard the International Space Station also used robotic arms functioning like construction cranes to move a huge solar power module.

The team of astronauts working inside and outside the space station uprooted the 35,000-pound module with a 57-foot-long robotic arm, The Houston Chronicle reported.

The arm, working with another robotic limb, transferred the module further down the side of the orbital base to make room for European and Japanese science modules to be added in upcoming shuttle missions.

It was the first time in nine years of space station assembly that so large and heavy an object had been moved by the robotic arms, the Chronicle reported.

Sunday's walk was the second of five space walks scheduled for the crew of the shuttle Discovery, which docked with the space station Thursday, temporarily putting a total of 10 astronauts on the station.