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Space Station Leak Found, Fixed

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the no-more-whooshing dept.

Rommel writes "NewScientist.com is reporting that the cause of the leak in the International Space Station has been found and fixed. The leak was found in a hose in the Destiny lab module. The hose was used to equalize pressure and eliminate fog between two panes of a window. While the leak was so slow it was unlikely to pose a direct threat to the crew for months to come, some equipment on the ISS is only certified to operate above a certain air pressure. The leak was originally mentioned on Slashdot a few days back."

6 of 225 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I would like to think... by IWorkForMorons · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yeah, but just think of all the tubing, wall panels, airlocks, windows, and god knows what else that had to be check. And especially since it was a leak in a piece of tubing, I'm surprised they found it so fast.

  2. No better time? by WebMasterJoe · · Score: 5, Insightful
    "The news couldn't have come at a better time," mission control told the crew.
    This is the kind of thing that makes no sense and must just be there to meet the word count requirements. Here are some "better times" that this could have come: Yesterday, two days ago, the day the leak was discovered.
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  3. Re:Didn't read the article... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    They'd also be dead in 4 hours.

  4. Re:So... It wasn't Russian equipment after all! by FreeUser · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I think it's interesting that initially the Americans tried to point the finger of possibility at just about anything capable of leaking built by the Russians, who of course have a zillion more years of experience building these things than we do...

    References?

    I recall both sides saying they had no idea where the problem was and that they were looking for it. I don't recall anyone placing any blame ahead of time, except perhaps for some slashdot trolls.

    --
    The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
  5. Re:Water Test by theslashdude · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You joke, but they do have a full mock-up of the space station in a tub of water. It's called the EVA Pool and is used for training astronauts for space walks.

  6. Re: How much time to escape . . . by shubert1966 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Maybe I'm wrong, but I seem to remember that when the last shuttle disaster occured, there was no contingency for docking with the Space Station in case of trouble. That itself seems like a HUGE design flaw. I hope this is wrong, because it would mean that the shuttle could not rescue people trapped on the Space Station either.

    Is it true that only spacewalks and cargo transfers occur between these two specific orbitals?
    Yeah, a manned-mission to Mars is looking more feasible every day . . .

    "HAL . . ."
    "Yes Dave."
    "We're screwed - Set the controls for the heart of the sun."

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