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Spacewalk Aborted When Water Fills Astronaut's Helmet
astroengine writes "A planned six-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station came to a dramatic and abrupt end on Tuesday when water started building up inside the helmet of Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano. Parmitano and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy were less than an hour into their spacewalk, their second in a week, when Parmitano reported that his head felt wet. 'My head is really wet and I have a feeling it's increasing,' Parmitano reported to ground control teams at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Parmitano returned safely to the space station interior, but the cause of the leak was not immediately known."
Would have sucked to be the first person to drown in outer space.
This story is all wet, but at least it holds its water.
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What will the government do to stop these leaks?!
All rites reversed 2010
I've been trying to warn the public about the inherent dangers of DHMO for years, but my cries have fallen on deaf ears. Perhaps someone at NASA will listen now.
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Depends.
and No Surprises"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5CVsCnxyXg
Fills... I do not think it means what you think it means.
"Lame" - Galaxar
Sounds like it was a leak in the inner-jacket cooling system that circulates water around the astronaut's body. Can't be a fun experience though,
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The most obvious source I can think for this would be a leak in the water cooling suit astronauts wear to keep cool while in the space suit.
The road to tyranny has always been paved with claims of necessity.
I'm not a rocket surgeon; but I'd guess a failure somewhere in the PLLS. That component is supposed to condense and remove water vapor from the gas(as well as scrubbing CO2 and adding oxygen if needed) before reintroducing the fresh atmosphere into the astronaut's helmet.
Between a possible failure in the mechanism for removing condensation(which would cause the output to be alarmingly damp if you aren't expecting it; but would be a self-limiting problem since there just isn't that much water vapor available), there is the more serious possibility that the LCVG, or the heat exchanger that keeps the coolant water in that chilled, is leaking, which might actually end up being enough water to impair breathing(especially with surface tension but not gravity), or impair the cooling functions enough to threaten the astronaut's ability to function. If he's on a tether, they'd presumably just reel him in if he were to pass out from thermal overload; but a free walk would not be a good time to lose consciousness...
NASA's first attempt to launch goldfish into space goes awry when astronauts accidentally mix up the experiment and their EVA suit .
NASA insists the goldfish are fine and experienced only minimal distress during their brief EVA.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
They're a few decades early... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Waters_of_Mars
Too late, we're on our way.
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
Cm'on... I'm sure at least 20% of slashdot readers have seen that Mythbusters episode....
I doubt he was returning from his spacewalk with the week's groceries stuffed in his suit though.
In space, no one can hear you gargle....
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I would have lost my shit on the spot. Man, just imagining myself floating out there on a spacewalk 200 miles above the earth, and feeling water on my head that isn't supposed be there...*shudder*. Just being up there is a spectacular balancing act of hundreds of special-purpose technologies that nearly all result in a horrible horrible death should they go wrong, finding even the slightest thing going wrong would freak me out.
Calls to mind the trailer for Alfonso Cuaron's (director for Children of Men) new movie "Gravity":
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2518132249?ref_=tt_pv_vi_1
The astronaut is quoted as saying that it didn't taste like water from the drinking water supply. Could be that, once steeped in helmet-gunk and hair, it tastes different, could be from a coolant loop.
Uhm, both are hazardous and I know a few of those Deep Sea guys. Sometimes they live pressurized for weeks at a time when working deep. So for all intents and purposes if their equipment fails, they may die. If the guy out in space has a problem with his equipment he may die too. I just say there's more eyes on the folks on the ISS than there are out in the Ocean so I guess the perspective is relative.
People step up to do these kinds of jobs so they know the risks, I say good job but there's probably a 100 page procedure in the flight control manual for this kind of problem anyway so "yes, the bureaucracy works!" Now if it was a couple of guys who built their own rocket in their back yard with spare change from their jobs at 7-11 and they were up there in orbit, we could stand back and say wow. But this is the ISS, the over-budget, over-priced lab where the Italians made the trash module (DaVinci Module is a giant trashcan). Let's face it the ISS is a bit boring and dull. Oh look another crew oh look a spacewalk. Sorry if that's cynical but hell, let's go back to the moon, let's go to Mars or further instead of a few miles up. We've been there enough already and it's time to move on.
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
But this is the ISS, the over-budget, over-priced lab where the Italians made the trash module (DaVinci Module is a giant trashcan). Let's face it the ISS is a bit boring and dull. Oh look another crew oh look a spacewalk. Sorry if that's cynical but hell, let's go back to the moon, let's go to Mars or further instead of a few miles up.
I just have to chime in here. Things have changed. And whether it was too expensive or not, that's in the past.
Now, the ISS is a critical element in the commercial/private space research and development that will take us to those other places in a real, "moving in and staying" kinda way. Almost every piece of hardware and technology will be tested on the ISS before it goes anywhere. For example, right now on the ISS is a 3D printer being tested to see how it works in microgravity, and learn what engineering changes will be required. 3D printing, or 'additive manufacturing' is one of the critical enabling technologies for long term travel, such as trips to Mars. And a Bigelow expandable habitat will be sent up and attached to the ISS for long term testing, soon.
Believe it or not, today the govt. is actually working to get out of the way, and really allow the ISS to be as useful as it could be. I'm kinda involved in some of the 'New Space' efforts. One very cool thing that the govt has done is designate the ISS as a National Laboratory (like Los Alamos, LLL, Sandia, Argonne, etc.) and has set up a program to provide free access for qualifying research - free launch, free astronaut activities (limited to a bit of button pushing) and free return. Administration has been delegated to an NGO (CASIS). So this is a beyond-world-class scientific laboratory, available for free for whomever comes up with something interesting. And they (not just NASA, but several other agencies as well) _really_ want to show some good results - that's what will justify continued support.
This could be as important for space research and development as anything we've seen. Scheduling of experiments (built into one of the three standard rack systems, from the Nanorack size to full 19" rack) has changed so that, where in the past it could take two or three years to get an experiment approved and launched, now it's possible to get your experiment launched in a few months. It still will cost a company $300,000 or so to design, build, test and get through the approval process (quite a bit less for a volunteer/student project with free labor and scrounged materials) but this is a game changer.
One company I'm (distantly) involved with is doing biotech research, and plans to run two or more experiments per year over the next couple of years. If their research pans out, the fruit of that research may well justify at least the cost of running the station over that time.
TL;DR - the ISS is turning from a government boutique research facility into a major tool for independent R&D, and will be instrumental in making commercial space and space development economically and technically possible.
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