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Space Station Crew Face Air-Scrubber Failures

Posted by timothy on from the but-see-we-*breathe*-this-stuff! dept.

madumas writes: "This article reports that the crew of the ISS (or alpha, or...) seem to have some problems with their air scrubber. They need replacement parts so fix the regenerator. It's interesting to see that they are a failure away from an emergency evacuation. For now, they are planning the shipping of the spare parts that should be done Dec. 26. Let's hope for them it doesn't fail."

3 of 84 comments (clear)

  1. Dear Santa, by lar3ry · · Score: 5

    Since your reindeer seem to defy all the laws of physics, do you think that you could take a few minutes from your busy schedule on Monday and send us up a couple of spare air scrubbers? We promise to leave you out some milk and cookies in return.

    Yours truly,
    The Crew of the International Space Station
    (Send it now before the postage rates go up!)
    --

    --
    "May I have ten thousand marbles, please?"
  2. Houston, we have a problem... by SurrealKnife · · Score: 4
    Hmmm... does this remind anyone else of that scene in Apollo 13 where they have to bodge an air filter together?

    "After a day and a half in the LM a warning light showed that the carbon dioxide had built up to a dangerous level. Mission Control devised a way to attach the CM canisters to the LM system by using plastic bags, cardboard, and tape- all materials carried on board."

    Will they never learn?

  3. It sounds dangerous... by Thalia · · Score: 4

    So far, they went through two fans, and are on the third one for the only air purification system they have on-board. It appears, although the article doesn't specifically mention this, that the two failed fans can not be repaired. (although they say that one of the fans had a "bad electrical connector" which sounds like something emminently fixable.) The question of whether they could jury-rig an alternative fan is also not addressed.

    By the way, according to the story, the replacement parts "will be ferried into orbit aboard Atlantis, scheduled for launch Jan. 18, or the next Progress supply ship, currently targeted for takeoff Feb. 10." This sounds like the next supply ship (December 26th) will not have these bits.

    Well, even if the air supply system truly fails, they have 14 days, and we or the Russians can certainly launch in less time than that. The US doesn't lose astronauts as easily as the Russians, I expect we'd try to save them.

    Thalia