Short Circuit Degrades Space Station Power, May Need Spacewalk For Repair

A short circuit on the International Space Station has knocked out some of the orbiting facility's power, and a spacewalk may be needed to carry out repairs, NASA says.

One of the eight channels to power the station was knocked off-line when a short circuit caused a switching device to trip, requiring astronauts aboard the ISS to switch affected systems to alternate channels, the space agency reported.

The tripped device normally feeds power from one of the station's eight solar arrays.

A similar incident in 2014 also required to spacewalk to affect repairs, said NASA spokesman Dan Huot, who emphasized that the six members of the crew are in no danger despite the degraded power system.

Before a spacewalk is mounted, however, a necessary spare part will have to be delivered to the ISS from Earth aboard a supply rocket, they said, as there are none of the required part onboard.

The first opportunity would be a SpaceX delivery mission set for sometime in the early part of 2016, they said. SpaceX missions are currently grounded following a failed launch last June.

Another commercial supplier, Orbital ATK, is expected to launch a cargo shipment in 2 weeks, but the cargo capsule for that mission has already been fully packed for the flight, officials said.

Orbital ATK missions have also been on a one-year hiatus following an explosion of one of its launch attempts.

It will use a different rocket, an Atlas V, for the scheduled Dec. 3 launch.

Meanwhile, the members of the ISS expedition crew paused for a minute of silence to honor the victims of the recent terrorists attacks in Paris.

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, expedition commander, said the crew "was shocked and saddened" by the attacks.