Jump to content

ISS Discussion Thread


NSEP

Recommended Posts

  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/06/on-the-space-station-band-aid-fixes-for-systemic-problems/

So, apparently, the ISS is doing kind of badly. As in "Scoring fives on the five-point scales of consequence and probability in the risk matrix" badly. "1-in-10 or higher odds of catastrophe" badly.

A small module located next to the Zvezda module is leaking, which is worrying, and they haven't found out why, which is horrifying. The station is planned to be in operation for five more years, but the chances of getting any serious maintenance on these systems in the meantime are kind of small.  I'm kind of sad that the plans for its replacement have not come any further than they have, because the odds of having to abandon the ISS prematurely are getting uncomfortably high.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, it's the time for NASA to give money for replacement, if they are planning to keep ISS working next years.

Though, the Spektr module of Mir was leaking for years after being rammed, and ISS has greater volume, thus more air inside and time to vent out the air.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Off the cuff:

Seal off and vent the leaking module.

Overpressurize (within safety margins), but still isolated, with gas containing a some ppm concentration of fluorescent microspheres or powder.  Diameter based on half of suspected leak size. 

Have astronaut on EVA with UV light source examine outside of module.   

Wait awhile.  Vent module to space.  Repressurize normally, filter remaining particles out of the air while still isolated for awhile. 

Then unseal and go poke around inside with a UV flashlight looking for where particles may have collected on leak path 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

So, it's the time for NASA to give money for replacement, if they are planning to keep ISS working next years.

Though, the Spektr module of Mir was leaking for years after being rammed, and ISS has greater volume, thus more air inside and time to vent out the air.

It's not an easy module to replace, though. A few other modules are also attached to it, and would have to be moved around (if making new, tight seals with their decade-old docking adapters are even possible) or discarded (in which case the station would need a new life support system). And even if repairs are somehow successful, the ISS remains very old with only a few years left in its lifespan. Other modules are also showing their age. It's like changing the engine on a very old car: it's expensive, and only a matter of time before something else breaks, so the effort might be for naught.

So rather, it's the time for NASA to give money for a replacement station. Along with ESA, JAXA, and CSA, of course.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted (edited)
5 hours ago, darthgently said:

Overpressurize (within safety margins), but still isolated, with gas containing a some ppm concentration of fluorescent microspheres or powder. 

N2O.
Then watch, who's laughing.

I mean, maybe the leakage is inside Zvezda.

3 hours ago, Codraroll said:

It's not an easy module to replace, though. A few other modules are also attached to it, and would have to be moved around (if making new, tight seals with their decade-old docking adapters are even p

I share your care, but Prichal has 4 free ports, and is docked to the new Nauka module, rather than to the old Zvezda.

https://www.energia.ru/ru/iss/rs/zvezda.html#zvezda

Spoiler

sh-zv.png

 

Btw, it's the root node of the coming ROSS.

3 hours ago, Codraroll said:

it's the time for NASA to give money for a replacement station.

Agreed. Funding ROSS would be nice of them.

Edited by kerbiloid
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

Agreed. Funding ROSS would be nice of them.

Rather, Orbital Reef or Axiom. There is zero reason to involve the Russians on the next station, seeing how it worked out on this one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Posted (edited)
7 hours ago, Codraroll said:

Rather, Orbital Reef or Axiom. There is zero reason to involve the Russians on the next station, seeing how it worked out on this one.

Interesting facts: there were zero reasons to involve the Westerners on the working Mir station, and the Russians are still involved on the ISS, while it was working out always like always.

Maybe they forgot to report you something?

Edited by kerbiloid
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/8/2024 at 1:30 AM, darthgently said:

Off the cuff:

Seal off and vent the leaking module.

Overpressurize (within safety margins), but still isolated, with gas containing a some ppm concentration of fluorescent microspheres or powder.  Diameter based on half of suspected leak size. 

Have astronaut on EVA with UV light source examine outside of module.   

Wait awhile.  Vent module to space.  Repressurize normally, filter remaining particles out of the air while still isolated for awhile. 

Then unseal and go poke around inside with a UV flashlight looking for where particles may have collected on leak path 

We used to find leaks acoustically. Have they tried using an ultrasonic leak detector? I guess I would have thought that would be standard equipment on a space station, so maybe they have already tried this,

On 6/8/2024 at 2:15 PM, Codraroll said:

Rather, Orbital Reef or Axiom. There is zero reason to involve the Russians on the next station, seeing how it worked out on this one.

For quite a while the Russians were the only way to get people to the station at all. Just saying.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, mikegarrison said:

For quite a while the Russians were the only way to get people to the station at all. Just saying.

A situation that was largely caused by the decision to retire the space shuttle before a replacement was ready, a decision that was influenced by the Russian service being available in the first place. The US had a fallback option and decided to go for it to save money. What happened next was that the Russians set prices to extortion levels once they were the only supplier. And then things began to fail in a bad way when their increased spending on new spaceports, reduced income, and the corruption problem finally trickled down into quality control.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Codraroll said:

the decision to retire the space shuttle before a replacement was ready, a decision that was influenced by the Russian service being available in the first place.

So the decision to put the lift out of order was caused not by two of five broken cables, but because the sneaky Russkies had a stairway at the wall...

Makes sense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...