Updates ISS UPDATES

[N_Molson]

Will it be necessary to replace the panel in a medium future ?

 

[MattBaker]

Will it be necessary to replace the panel in a medium future ?

I don't think that such a tiny tiny hole poses any real problem except if this happens more often but there should be no real danger for the solar arrays since bigger debris can be monitored.

but meteoroids are traveling through space at speeds of well over 25,000 mph — many times faster than any bullet!

I'd say it's much more likely to be a piece of space debris which surely does not have such a relative velocity...

 

[orb]

I'd say it's much more likely to be a piece of space debris which surely does not have such a relative velocity...

In the RIA Novosti article:

However, experts believe the hole was probably caused by a random object, possibly space junk, which would not have been able to penetrate the layers of the station's hull.

Jim Scotti, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, said: “It's unlikely this was caused by a meteor, more likely a piece of man-made space debris in low Earth orbit.”

 

[orb]

The orbit raising has been performed today, May 8 at 10:51 Moscow time, by thrusters of the Progress M-19M cargo vehicle. Engines fired for 844 seconds, resulting in delta V of 1.5 m/s. The average altitude of the orbit increased by 2.6 km and reached 413.6 km.

• PeA = 413.6 km
• ApA = 428.1 km
• T = 5566.92 s
• Inc = 51.67 °

Source: Roscosmos


Parabolic Arc: Sarah Brightman’s Flight to ISS Appears to Be Back on — Again

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

Serious Ammonia Leak Outside ISS

Oops......that's the same place that the astronauts tried to stop ammonia leaking by deploying another radiator last November in an EVA, so apparently that's NOT the culprit! :blink:

Note that this very probably will mean that power channel (2B) will need to be shutdown, taking down one-eighth of the station's power supply. An emergency EVA to replace the pump is not out of the question.
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Ammonia Leak Outside Station; Crew in No Danger05.09.13

At around 10:30 a.m. CDT on Thursday, the Expedition 35 crew reported seeing small white flakes floating away from an area of the International Space Station’s P6 truss structure. The crew used handheld cameras and Mission Control used external television cameras to gain additional imagery in an attempt to narrow down the leak’s location.

The crew reports, along with imagery and data received by flight controllers in Mission Control in Houston, confirmed that the rate of the ammonia leaking from this section of the cooling system has increased. Ammonia is used to cool the station’s power channels that provide electricity to station systems. Each solar array has its own independent cooling loop. This ammonia loop is the same one that spacewalkers attempted to troubleshoot a leak on during a spacewalk on Nov. 1, 2012. It is not yet known whether this increased ammonia flow is from the same leak, which at the time, was not visible.

The station continues to operate normally otherwise and the crew is in no danger.

Plans are being developed to reroute other power channels to maintain full operation of those and other systems normally controlled by the solar array that is cooled by this loop.

The early analysis by thermal control systems specialists indicates that the leak rate could result in a shutdown of this one cooling loop in about 48 hours. The team is looking at whether any additional imagery is needed to isolate the leak’s location.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition35/e35_050913.html

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

Oops......that's the same place that the astronauts tried to stop ammonia leaking by deploying another radiator last November in an EVA, so apparently that's NOT the culprit! :blink:

Note that this very probably will mean that power channel (2B) will need to be shutdown, taking down one-eighth of the station's power supply. An emergency EVA to replace the pump is not out of the question.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ammonia Leak Outside Station; Crew in No Danger05.09.13

At around 10:30 a.m. CDT on Thursday, the Expedition 35 crew reported seeing small white flakes floating away from an area of the International Space Station’s P6 truss structure. The crew used handheld cameras and Mission Control used external television cameras to gain additional imagery in an attempt to narrow down the leak’s location.

The crew reports, along with imagery and data received by flight controllers in Mission Control in Houston, confirmed that the rate of the ammonia leaking from this section of the cooling system has increased. Ammonia is used to cool the station’s power channels that provide electricity to station systems. Each solar array has its own independent cooling loop. This ammonia loop is the same one that spacewalkers attempted to troubleshoot a leak on during a spacewalk on Nov. 1, 2012. It is not yet known whether this increased ammonia flow is from the same leak, which at the time, was not visible.

The station continues to operate normally otherwise and the crew is in no danger.

Plans are being developed to reroute other power channels to maintain full operation of those and other systems normally controlled by the solar array that is cooled by this loop.

The early analysis by thermal control systems specialists indicates that the leak rate could result in a shutdown of this one cooling loop in about 48 hours. The team is looking at whether any additional imagery is needed to isolate the leak’s location.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition35/e35_050913.html

BREAKING NEWS: Contingency EVA to be held tomorrow starting at 12:15 UTC with Chris Cassidy and Thomas Marshburn going outside to replace the Pump Flow Control Subassembly (PFCS) for the cooling system of power channel 2B on the old P6 truss.

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

Overview article of tomorrow's contingency EVA from our own Pete: NASASpaceflight.com - Ammonia leak on ISS prompts contingency spacewalks

 

[Capt_hensley]

So is it a line, a valve, a coupling, a pump or what, cheese and rice these things are so indescript.... I'm thinking a design review is needed and more chamber testing may be the next step to getting a better idea of what wear-and-tear estimate is correct. Shelf life and spares may become an issue for future EVAs.

 

[N_Molson]

EVA is beginning on NASA TV, suits have been switched to battery power.

---------- Post added at 01:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:51 PM ----------

Astronauts on working site and TV link re-established.

---------- Post added at 01:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:12 PM ----------

Chris Cassidy see no leaks yet, and the flash of his camera is buggy.

---------- Post added at 01:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:28 PM ----------

Sunrise

---------- Post added at 02:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:41 PM ----------

The pump module has been removed.

"No mechanisms have ice on them," radioed astronaut Tom Marshburn.

"Can you confirm if you have seen any flakes," astronaut Mike Fincke asked from mission control.

"I have not," one of the astronauts replied.

"It looks really clean, surprisingly so," Cassidy said, noting the only thing he saw was a bit of metallic debris in one of the bolt shafts.

 

[Kyle]

Moving out of KU, no smoking gun yet. Wouldn't even think there's been a leak given how good in shape everything seems to be in. Hope the source of the leak isn't deep within P6.

---------- Post added at 02:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:27 PM ----------

About to hit 2 hours into the EVA.

 

[dougkeenan]

"Good news is that the configuration keeps it tight. The bad news is that it's going to be tight."

 

[Donamy]

That was Houston's fault. I heard them say clockwise.

 

[N_Molson]

1633 GMT (12:33 p.m. EDT)

No sign of any ammonia so far, according to Cassidy and Marshburn.

The space station is in a night pass right now. If there is any leakage, it might be easier to spot in daytime.

"So far, so good, I guess," astronaut Mike Fincke said from mission control in Houston.

1631 GMT (12:31 p.m. EDT)

Flight controllers have turned on the new cooling pump. The spacewalkers are standing by to look for any sign of ammonia leakage. If no leaks are found, there is a good chance this replacement solved the problem.

 

[Kyle]

"If you look back towards the JEM, there's someone with a mustache smiling."
"I wonder who that could be."

 

[garyw]

I hadn't seen this posted until today. Something a little different from Chris Hadfield.

 

[N_Molson]

He sings correctly, and the acoustic inside the ISS is surprisingly good. Playing guitar in 0g seems though, without gravity it doesn't hold in place. Well, I'd try velcro strips. It seems to solve nicely this kind of problems in space :lol:

Edit : actually, there are white squares on the back and the bottom of the guitar that are probably velcro patches.

 

[Codz]

What an awesome guy.

 

[Ripley]

I posted this video in the chat some hours ago, but obviouly it's not the same...

Yes, a good performance, and like the modified lyrics too.
BTW, what does he say before the last "planet Earth is blue..."?

 

[kuddel]

BTW, what does he say before the last "planet Earth is blue..."?

Without knowing exactly I would say: "...a laaaaast glimpse of the world..."

 

[Ark]

I hadn't seen this posted until today. Something a little different from Chris Hadfield.

NASA owes so much to Hadfield, he is a social media Jedi and has singlehandedly made space interesting to regular people again, if only temporarily.

The one thing NASA seems to be best at is taking something as awesome as spaceflight and making it so mind-numbingly boring, even though it's anything but.