More Solar Panel Problems For ISS

rufey writes "This week there have been two pieces of bad news from the International Space Station. First was the discovery of metal shavings inside a problematic rotary joint used to keep one set of solar panels in the optimal position for power generation. At the close of a subsequent spacewalk, after it was relocated to its permanent location, the unfurling of the 4B solar panel resulted in it tearing in two places. A spacewalk is now planned for November 4th to attempt to fix the tear. The upcoming spacewalk is not without risks, including the remote possibility of electrocution since it is impossible to stop the solar panel from generating electricity during the repair attempt. NASA says the ripped wing needs to be fixed or the solar rotary joint problem solved before any more shuttles can fly to the space station and continue construction. With a hard deadline of 2010 for Shuttle retirement, NASA does not have much wiggle room in the schedule in order to finish ISS construction."

Comments

Impossible to stop the solar panel from generating

[Anonymous Coward]

Why don't they do the repairs at night?

Hope they brought the duct tape...

[sgv-0027]

Of course it's going to be the really shiny "NASA" kind, but still duct tape.

Away Team extra crewman

[RealGrouchy]

He will not be electrocuted, or at least if he is, he will survive.

Of all the crewmembers aboard the ISS/Space Shuttle, Parazynski is the most experienced.

If NASA were going to kill off a character, they'd send out one of the junior redshirts to do the repair job.

- RG>

Re:Away Team extra crewman

[BytePusher]

By definition, electrocution means death. It is one of those misused words of the English language.

What's a better word that leaves no ambiguity? Shock, needs to be specified and the wording will be awkward as it sounds odd to say he will be "electrically shocked," or could experience "electric shock." The etymology of the word from dictionary.com says is came from "electric" + "(exec)ution." It's clever, because it provided nearly an instantaneous and seamless integration into the English language since execution already has it's conjugates defined. However, I have not seen anyone who complains about the misuse of "electrocution" providing a clever, easy to say, quickly understandable alternative. So, please, find or invent a word that is more suitable than electrocution.

Here are my alternatives:

Electrinjury: Electric shock resulting in injury.

Electeleportation: Electric shock resulting in teleportation.

Electrouch: Electric shock resulting in an "ouchie."

Re:Deadline

[iknownuttin]

Why is 2010 such a "hard" deadline?

Because they missed 2001.

4B or not 4B

[ackthpt]

(An upgrade to Hamlet's rhetorical question)

We're gonna need a bigger roll of Cello Tape.

Re:Impossible to stop the solar panel from generat

[falcon5768]

yes but he is using one of the RED space suits... a sure sign he is toast.

Perpetual power generation you just can't turn off

[digitaldc]

The partially unfurled solar wing is producing power, and there is no way to turn it off

Man, do we need one of these things on Earth, RIGHT NOW!

Re:Blue tarp?

[AndersOSU]

If NASA ever goes up into space without duct tape, I've lost all faith in the space program.

As long as he makes repairs with one hand ...

[aphexcoil2]

and doesn't touch ground with the other, he should be fine. Wait, how does one ground himself while in space?

Re:Irrelevant to my point.

[Single GNU Theory]

But don't you feel like an idiot watching your wheel bounce down the road.

"You picked a fine time to leave me, loose wheel..."

Re:Impossible to stop the solar panel from generat

[Odin's Raven]

Why don't they do the repairs at night?

Silly, the astronauts would be asleep at night. :-P