The International Space Station's cooling system is back to normal a few days after the last of three spacewalks this month to replace a failed pump. "To us here on orbit, things are looking better than normal," astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson told CBS News in a space-to-ground interview this morning. "It's back to business as usual, it seems."
Caldwell Dyson partnered with Doug Wheelock for the three spacewalks between Aug. 7, Aug. 11 and Aug. 16 that totaled nearly 23 hours combined.
The spacewalkers removed a failed ammonia coolant pump from the starboard side of the station and replaced it with one of four spares.
Soon after the last spacewalk, teams on the ground began reconfiguring systems that had been shut down to prevent overheating while the station's U.S. segment relied on a single cooling loop instead of two.
This morning, Wheelock and Shannon Walker, the station's third American resident, who operated the station's robotic arm during the spacewalks, removed a last set of jumper cables routed to the outpost's Russian segment and replaced some science racks.
The three American crew members described the on-the-fly repairs as a testament to NASA's ability to respond quickly to a significant failure in orbit, a skill that will become more essential after the shuttle stops flying next year.
"It was really NASA at its finest," Walker said.
"It was a validation of our teamwork, our training," Wheelock added. "The way everything came together was just a great lesson in teamwork and how to stick to it and really solve a problem."
The station is also home to three Russian cosmonauts: Mikhail Kornienko, Alexander Skvortsov and Fyodor Yurchikhin.
Caldwell Dyson, Kornienko and Skvortsov are scheduled to depart the station next month in a Soyuz spacecraft, landing in Kazakhstan.
3 comments:
.
just a question, to ALL space and science journalists, bloggers, experts, etc...
could the "commercial space" REALLY replace the Space Shuttle???
or puts the $200 billion ISS under the serious risk to DIE soon?
http://www.ghostnasa.com/posts2/072issdeath.html
some people are pro-Shuttle, others are against it, but ALL know the DETAILED Space Shuttle data
some people are pro-Ares1/5, others are against them, but ALL know the DETAILED Ares1/5 NASA studies
some people are pro-EELVs, others are against them, but ALL know the DETAILED Delta/Atlas/Ariane/etc. data and launches
well, now, some people are pro "commercial space", others are against it, but HOW they/we can be PRO or AGAINST it, if they/we STILL don't know the EXACT data and info of the "commercial" vehicles??????????
e.g. SpaceX hasn't given yet any detailed info and data about the Dragon
the specs available in the .pdf published on the SpaceX site aren't so clear
so, it's hard to evaluate this vehicle to know what it really can or can't do
these are the exact data we need to know from SpaceX about the Dragon:
- payload adapter mass ________
- empty service module mass ________
- propellants mass ________
- empty capsule mass ________
- ejected nose cone mass ________
- max LEO/ISS pressurized cargo mass ________
- max LEO/ISS unpressurized cargo mass ________
- max returned cargo mass ________
- cargo Dragon GLOW ________
- crewed Dragon GLOW ________
- Dragon's LAS mass ________
- max crew life support mass ________
- max crew+seats+spacesuits mass ________
- max mission autonomy (days) ________
- max Falcon-9 "dumb" payload to ISS orbit ________
all data should be in mT (1000 kg.) or kg.
the data of the crewed Dragon should be for a full, seven astronauts, mission
could the "commercial" SpaceX give CLEAR data and answers to the space community and the (potential) investors?
.
There's some of what you want at Wikipedia.
Falcon 9 to LEO 9,900 Kg
Falcon 9 Heavy to LEO 27,500 Kg
I'd expect a manned Dragon capsule to be good for at least six months - the usual crew rotation period.
There's nothing that can replace the Shuttle capabilities, and you aren't alone in wondering how long the ISS can keep flying without it.
I would like to say a big well done, to the space walkers who carried out this very challenging repair.!!!! As you say in the states GOOD JOB .!!!.
Post a Comment