Update: Urine Processor Glitch Studied

Blogger update, 1:55 p.m. The International Space Station's new urine processor has a mechanical problem, not a software problem, ground controllers have confirmed for astronauts. A centrifuge motor in a distillation mechanism is not running at the correct speed. No plan for a fix was immediately revealed.

Blogger update, 12:35 p.m.: Ground controllers have told Expedition 18 commander Mike Fincke they won't be ready to perform a fail test on the Urine Processor Assembly by 1:30 p.m. Engineers are meeting to determine the next course of action, with no certain timetable.

"We understand how important it is to get water samples and such," Fincke replied, saying he'd be available to do the work any time. "We'll get the UPA up and running as best we can."

After running well for about two hours this morning, a new urine processor has sounded another caution alarm and shut down aboard the International Space Station.

Engineers suspect a distillation mechanism sensor determined that a centrifuge motor speed was too low, prompting the automatic shut down. They are reviewing motor data in an effort to correct the problem.

NASA officials on Thursday night called a similar alarm a "small setback," saying they could cope with a 24-hour delay and still get samples needed for testing without having to extend Endeavour's 15-day mission.

The urine processor, shown at left in combination with a water processor, are key components of hardware Endeavour delivered to the station after docking Sunday. They are part of an attempt to create a "closed loop" environmental system that treats and recycles wastewater, reducing the amount of water that must be shipped to the station.

That will be especially important when station crews double to six people and require more water, as planned next year. You can read more about the environmental control system here.

Also on the station, Expedition 18 crew members Mike Fincke and Sandra Magnus are working with Japanese flight controllers on a two-hour checkout of a berthing mechanism on the Kibo lab, shown at left.

An exposed pallette of biological and materials experiments is expected to be attached to the lab next May, after delivery by Endeavour on STS-127.

And spacewalkers Steve Bowen and Shane Kimbrough are assembling a TV video camera they will deploy outside the station on the fourth and final spacewalk, planned Monday.

It's needed to help a Japanese cargo vehicle dock last next year. The vehicle will fly close to the station, then be grabbed by the station's robotic arm and docked manually.

Crews have also taken this picture of a thermal panel peeling off a radiator on the station's first starboard truss, first noticed in June. The cause of the peeling is not known, but radiator's performance has not been affected.