Category Archives: Transhuman News

The American Space Station Spacelab

By: emah mushu

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The American Space Station Spacelab - Video

Space Station Malfunction: Spacewalk Repairs Explained By NASA | Video
Lead U.S. Spacewalk Officer Allison Bolinger explains what the ISS astronauts will be doing over 3 spacewalks to repair cooling system. A pump module needs t...

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Space Station Malfunction: Spacewalk Repairs Explained By NASA | Video - Video

[ISS] Three Spacewalks Planned to Repair International Space Station
Three EVAs (Spacewalks) have been planned beginning December 21st to repair one of two coolant loops on the International Space Station which failed last wee...

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[ISS] Three Spacewalks Planned to Repair International Space Station - Video

Cooling System Aboard International Space Station Fails Video ABC News

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Cooling System Aboard International Space Station Fails Video ABC News - Video

Cosmic Log

Alan Boyle, Science Editor NBC News

6 minutes ago

Two NASA astronauts began a high-stakes series of spacewalks to repair the International Space Station's cooling system on Saturday, outfitted for the first time with snorkels in their helmets to keep them from drowning.

"Beautiful day," astronaut Rick Mastracchio said after the spacewalk's start at 7:01 a.m. ET. He took a moment to look down at Earth as the station passed more than 250 miles (400 kilometers) over Africa. "Quite a view," he said.

Mastracchio and fellow spacewalker Mike Hopkins are taking on three spacewalks through Christmas Day to replace a coolant pump module with a faulty valve. Last week's valve malfunction cut the station's cooling capability in half, forcing mission managers to shut down non-critical systems on the $100 billion-plus orbital outpost.

Worries about waterGround controllers couldn't get the valve back in service by remote control, which led to the current plan for three spacewalks running through Christmas Day. Replacing the refrigerator-sized module is one of the station's expected maintenance tasks but the job has been complicated by the fact that an Italian spacewalker, Luca Parmitano, almost drowned in July when water pooled up in the helmet of his U.S.-made suit.

That incident led NASA to suspend U.S. spacewalks while the station's crew and controllers worked to track down the source of the problem. They think they've identified the cause: previously undetected contamination that clogged up the system designed to remove moisture from the suit. And they've given a clean bill of health to the spacesuits Mastracchio and Hopkins are using.

"I would be surprised if we have a problem with the suits," Mike Suffredini, NASA's space station program manager, told reporters this week.

But just in case, the astronauts are wearing absorbent pads on their necks that should pick up the first signs of excess moisture in the helmet and are primed to stop the spacewalk if those pads start feeling squishy. They also have jury-rigged snorkel tubes within easy reach of their mouths in the event that water starts covering their faces.

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Snorkel-equipped spacewalkers start critical repair job on space station

>>> in the meantime a critical mission this morning above all of us. a pair a nasa restaurants about to head outside of the international space station to make an emergency fix on a faulty pump. these missions, in our eyes, have become pretty routine in recent years but this is getting attention after an italian restaurant almost drowned while covering a spacewalk last year. tom, what can you tell us?

>> this is mission control behind me and these are the restaurants, rick and mike. this is to replace one of two cooling loops failed on the international space station and forcing the crew to lose power. if they lose the second coiling loop they have to ban the station. they have done this work before but this is the first space walk since an restaurant nearly drowned in his helmet last july.

>> reporter: at 230 miles above the earth this morning, an urgent space walk to repair a critical component on the space station . after one of two cooling pumps failed on the station last week.

>> there is an ammonia risk whenever replacing these cooling lubs.

>> reporter: the job replace the bad pump with a spare. doug weelock was the last restaurant to work on the pump in 2010 opinion this week, he recorded a video showing the space station crew how to go about the repair mission.

>> our advice to them and the crew agreed go slow and methodical step-by-step and challenge and response.

>> reporter: with their space suits hanging in the station, the two astronauts rick and mike, spent time preparing their equipment but the suits have been the focus of tremendous attention. on wednesday every component got a thorough inspection.

>> there is a bit of kind of a white residue.

>> reporter: the residue is a concern because that is thought tof blocked a water filtered last july and calling an restaurant helmet to fill with water.

>> water is in his eyes now. it seems to be increasing.

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NASA astronaut: Spacewalk will be ‘slow, methodical’

Cosmic Log

Alan Boyle, Science Editor NBC News

15 hours ago

NASA

NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio checks his spacesuit in the International Space Station's Quest airlock in advance of Saturday's outing.

Imagine a movie where astronauts are one failure away from abandoning the International Space Station, and have to deal with toxic chemicals during a spacewalk while facing the risk of drowning in their spacesuits. Oh, and it's just before Christmas.

A Hollywood producer could spin the three spacewalks that NASA is planning over the coming week as a holiday-season sequel to "Gravity," if Sandra Bullock were available. It's more likely that the replacement of one of the space station's external coolant pumps will be completely routine. But NASA is taking extraordinary measures, such as providing the two spacewalkers with jury-rigged spacesuit snorkels, just in case the fix-up job really does turn into a thriller.

Several factors, including a scary spacewalk in July involving water in a spacesuit helmet, have combined to add some extra drama to the repair operation that begins Saturday.

What went wrong on the space station?

The International Space Station is a 450-ton machine that puts out a lot of heat, and there's a complex cooling system that keeps all of the electronics aboard (not to mention the six-person crew) at their proper operating temperature. Two external ammonia-cooled plumbing loops draw the heat away from the internal water-cooled loops and radiate it out into space. Last week, one of the valves in a pump for one of the ammonia loops malfunctioned, and that caused the loop to go offline.

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Real-life 'Gravity'? Drama builds over spacewalks to fix space station