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Update on Aborted ISS Spacewalk

Posted by michael on from the breathholding-apparently-unnecessary dept.

Carnildo writes "Reuters is reporting that the cause of the aborted spacewalk was a stuck switch that gave a false reading of a leak."

12 comments

  1. Wow! by dnahelix · · Score: 1, Funny

    Awesome!

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    1. Re:Wow! by dnahelix · · Score: 1

      I mean awesome that there was no real danger and they can now maybe do a safe spacewalk!

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    2. Re:Wow! by WhatAmIDoingHere · · Score: 5, Funny

      The only two posts on a story are one guy talking to himself. That, my good sir, is "Wow" worthy.

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    3. Re:Wow! by y0bhgu0d · · Score: 1

      wow.

    4. Re:Wow! by falzer · · Score: 2, Funny

      Awesome-o!

      (The o stands for Original!)

  2. spacewalk history? by acceber · · Score: 4, Interesting
    The result was the shortest spacewalk in U.S. history.

    That raises the question as to what actually classifies a spacewalk. So they step outside for a minute or two, complete no extra-vehicular activity (EVA) whatsoever, but it's all good because they made space history?

    I guess technically, strictly speaking, it is a spacewalk but doesn't the definition of "spacewalk" include having to actually perform a task, in this case replacing a transistorised switch that had disabled one of four large gyroscopes?

    1. Re:spacewalk history? by Andy+Mitchell · · Score: 1

      Space walks seem to very rarely have anything to do with walking, so I don't see why it should have to have anything to do with productive work as that isn't even in the name :-)

      Walking is somewhat "tricky" in the absence of gravity or some sci-fi gizmo like magnetic boots.

  3. Complete definition... by NEOtaku17 · · Score: 2, Informative

    This is a spacewalk.

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    1. Re:Complete definition... by snake_dad · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It says "There have not been any EVA's during flights to and from the Moon, or orbiting the Moon.", but I seem to remember reading about an EVA to inspect some part of the Command Module on a return flight from the Moon, and even a movie taken during that EVA. Anyone with better memory than mine?

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  4. What the hell? by ColaMan · · Score: 2, Interesting

    A stuck switch?
    The "vent-suit-atmosphere" switch perhaps?
    What kind of half-assed situation is this?
    They don't have enough telemetry to determine if a switch (or circuit) is on or off at a given point in time?

    Seriously though, if a "stuck switch" can give an (apparently false) indication of imminent loss of air, there's something seriously whacked in their suit design.

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    1. Re:What the hell? by RobertB-DC · · Score: 1

      A stuck switch?
      The "vent-suit-atmosphere" switch perhaps?
      What kind of half-assed situation is this?
      They don't have enough telemetry to determine if a switch (or circuit) is on or off at a given point in time?

      Well, you could have telemetry on every circuit. In fact, that's the NASA way -- every switch and circuit breaker has a telemetry unit, and that unit probably feeds another unit that sends back telemetry about the telemetry.

      And before long, you have... the NASA EVA suit, which is 1) too big to fit through the Russian airlock and 2) currently unusable because of some obscure combination of tiny faults.

      So instead of using the overengineered NASA suits, the astronauts were forced to use the brute-force-engineered Russian suits. One suit developed a problem, because in space, Stuff Still Happens.

      Here we are, less than a week later, and we know what happened to the Russian suit. The NASA suits, meanwhile, are still floating around like weightless paperweights, and are just as useless.

      I have to chalk this one up to the limited-telemetry brute-force Russian design. It ain't pretty, but it works.

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  5. I don't know about you... by HaloZero · · Score: 1

    ...but I would much, much rather have my environment sensor switches fail than I would have the oxygen bottle(s) fail.

    'Look, ma! No oxygen!'

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