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Astronauts Open ISS Station Room
mikesd81 notes an ABC News report that astronauts aboard the ISS have opened the new station room. Commander Peggy Whitson and astronaut Paolo Nespoli delayed their lunch so the event could happen before the station's orbit temporarily blocked the ability to send a video downlink to Mission Control. From the article: "Nespoli... joined Discovery's crew to personally deliver the Italian-made pressurized chamber... Astronauts added the school bus-sized room called Harmony during a 6.5-hour spacewalk Friday, using a robotic arm to lift it from the shuttle's cargo bay and install it on the station. The compartment will serve as the docking port and nerve center for European and Japanese laboratories that will be delivered on the next three shuttle flights. It also will be a power and thermal distribution center, providing air, electricity, water and other systems for the space station. Racks of computer and electronic equipment are already inside the cylinder, which will double as a living space for the crew... The astronauts will have to undo more than 700 bolts [which held down the equipment during flight] to free up the equipment."
Yes, because its a great idea to use explosives in a pressurized environment in the middle or space. And they can just plug electromagnets into the giant extension cord to Cape Canaveral. Idiot.
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
Yes, they could (although, personally, explosive bolts and electromagnetically-held ROOMS of equipment would not be on any spaceship I would ever fly on... just imagine the potential for going wrong!)
But, it'll probably take a handful of man-hours and, to be honest, space agencies have trouble finding astronauts enough stuff to do to keep them busy anyway especially on "space stations" as opposed to shuttles, orbits, missions etc. Plus, you'd have to manually check everything at some point anyway - might as well be while you're "unpacking" your new space-station room (remember to keep the box it came in in case you have to send it back!).
Plus, one bolt in the wrong place, coming loose or not coming off nicely and you're in deep trouble and hardly able to pop down the local DIY store to pick up a replacement.
Astronaut missions are always rigourously scheduled and planned. You'll probably find these people have an actual list of every bolt to be taken off in what order with what tool and what to check before and after every one. Similarly, when "just" tightening a bolt, they would have data on torque, etc. which they would follow to the letter.
except they are not at zero G they are in microgravity.
"Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
That's a big pressure cooker! Now they just have to find enough ravioli to fill it.
... and then they built the supercollider.
"Unfortunately, no. The ISS requires far too much hands-on maintenance."
...ground control was in control - not the nitrogen-breathing, image conscious, time wasting, hubris-fevered staff-monkeys in the air.
:)
I happened to listen to live activity today. The pilot, a shuttle first-timer, kept asking if the stop-go incrementing counter on the fuel-cell monitoring software was awry - he wouldn't let it go, even after Houston told him they had spent enough time on what was obviously a non-issue and to move on. He kept making suggestions and they waited patiently as he chatted and rambled. It was clear they were giving into his first-time fever, just to placate him, but still, talk about a time-waster.
In addition, being as the shuttle commander and ISS in-charge are both women, making for yet another space first (?), the two were so enamored with the idea, they miscalculated the time before the big public TV presentation of the new 'Harmony' module, thinking they didn't have time to spruce their hair for the cameras - Houston calmly told them no issue, the circulation fans had been adjusted from the ground to keep everything on schedule - plenty of time.
The shuttle commandette told the ground-control guy "thanks for having our back on that one!"
So please, sell that 'too much hands-on maintenance' white-wash someplace else, thanks