Russian Vehicle Delivers Spacesuit Repair Kit To ISS

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Russian Vehicle Delivers Spacesuit Repair Kit To ISS

Posted by timothy on Saturday July 27, 2013 @08:40PM from the why-didn't-they-pay-the-$4-for-overnight? dept.

A Russian spacecraft has successfully delivered new supplies to the ISS. Crucially, its payload is meant to prevent a repeat of the aborted spacewalk of earlier this month. Says the article:: "The cargo ship is loaded with nearly 3 tons (2.7 tonnes) of food, fuel, hardware and science experiment equipment for the six-person crew of the station's Expedition 36 mission. Among its cargo is a set of tools intended to help the astronauts investigate and patch up the spacesuit that malfunctioned during a July 16 spacewalk outside the orbiting laboratory."

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not helpful ! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-27 20:44 · Score: 0

"3 tons (2.7 tonnes)". How much metric tons is meant here ?
1. Re:not helpful ! by polar+red · 2013-07-27 20:46 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  for a geeky site, the continuous use of non-standard measurment units is maddening !
  
  --
  Yes, I'm left. You have a problem with that?
2. Re:not helpful ! by Kidbro · 2013-07-27 21:06 · Score: 1
  
  2.7. The metric ton is a bit larger than the long ton. Why they decided it was OK to introduce an extra significant in the conversion is beyond me though.
  
  --
  May we live long and die out
3. Re:not helpful ! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-27 21:06 · Score: 0
  
  What's the conversion rate for tons to donuts?
4. Re:not helpful ! by Kidbro · 2013-07-27 21:10 · Score: 1
  
  Ugh. I got confused. The number "3" would not be a long ton, but a short ton. The point still stands that 2.7 would be the metric number.
  
  --
  May we live long and die out
5. Re:not helpful ! by gl4ss · 2013-07-27 21:34 · Score: 1
  
  Ugh. I got confused. The number "3" would not be a long ton, but a short ton. The point still stands that 2.7 would be the metric number.
  the summary might just mean that it's _nearly_ 3 tons (2.7 is nearly 3). of course typing it out like that sounds fucking stupid, since why not then just say 2.7 because the whole "nearly 3 tons" is a waste, but it wouldn't be the first time.
  
  --
  world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
6. Re:not helpful ! by Zocalo · 2013-07-27 21:58 · Score: 4, Informative
  Assuming that they are not using "ton" as a measure of volume, then take you pick which two out of these three possibilites they mean:
  
  3 US short tons (at ~907kg each), which is ~2721kg
  2.7 UK long tons (at ~1016kg each), which is ~2743kg
  2.7 metric tonnes (at 1000kg each), which is 2700kg
  FWIW, the UK Weights and Measures Act 1985 excludes from use for trade the ton and the term "metric ton" for "tonne" in an attempt to avoid such confusion over ambiguous and incorrect usage of "ton", "tonnes" and "metric tons".
  --
  UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
7. Re:not helpful ! by osu-neko · 2013-07-27 22:56 · Score: 1
  
  It doesn't help that there's over a dozen other definitions of "ton", several of which are measures of volume rather than mass.
  
  --
  "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
8. Re:not helpful ! by khallow · 2013-07-28 00:17 · Score: 1
  
  One tonne is one metric ton by definition.
9. Re:not helpful ! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-28 01:14 · Score: 0
  
  How do I convert to the metric fuck-ton?
10. Re:not helpful ! by __aaltlg1547 · 2013-07-28 02:27 · Score: 0
  
  UK units are irrelevant because the UK has no space program. There is no reasonable interpretation for "3 tons" to mean 3 long tons.
11. Re:not helpful ! by the_other_chewey · 2013-07-28 06:59 · Score: 1
  
  UK units are irrelevant because the UK has no space program.
  Oh?
12. Re:not helpful ! by __aaltlg1547 · 2013-07-29 01:30 · Score: 1
  
  If you can't get to space without hitching a ride on someobody else's rocket, that's not a space program.
Spacesuit repair kit? by lxs · 2013-07-27 21:03 · Score: 2

So is that a little tin with a piece of sandpaper, a tube of rubber cement and some patching material? Do they hold the suit in a tub of soapy water to find the leaks? Must be messy in microgravity.
1. Re:Spacesuit repair kit? by GNious · 2013-07-27 21:37 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Person 1 wears the suit
  Person 1 farts
  Person 2 sniffs out the leak
  simples
2. Re:Spacesuit repair kit? by KingMotley · 2013-07-27 22:10 · Score: 1
  
  I call dibbs on wearing the suit!
3. Re:Spacesuit repair kit? by VortexCortex · 2013-07-27 22:29 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  I call dibbs on wearing the suit!
  But the leak isn't that--
  So then you have to--
  Trapped in a fart bubble.
4. Re:Spacesuit repair kit? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-28 01:40 · Score: 0
  
  Repair kit contents:
  1 can of automotive radiator stop-leak
  2 bottle of water for refill
  3 lucky rabbit foot to tape onto helmet
5. Re:Spacesuit repair kit? by Hognoxious · 2013-07-28 02:08 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Really, all this talk of how primitive the Russians are. Give them some credit.
  Half of the kit is a roll of clingfilm; you smooth it onto the suit and watch for the bubble forming.
  The other half is a roll of duct tape.
  
  --
  Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
6. Re:Spacesuit repair kit? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-28 11:12 · Score: 0
  
  Just keep in mind that the Russians still maintain a manned launch capability. Ground control to USA.... ????
7. Re:Spacesuit repair kit? by tlhIngan · 2013-07-28 16:30 · Score: 1
  
  Person 1 wears the suit
  Person 1 farts
  Person 2 sniffs out the leak
  Except the problem with the suit is water collecting in the helmet.
  So not only are you farting in a spacesuit that's keeping the air in, you're going to drown after breathing in your ass-air the entire time.
So, what about the repair kit? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-27 21:12 · Score: 0

Supplies shipment are pretty routine now... what makes it newsworthy? I suspect the details of the repair kit is the news here, not the rocket delivering it. What's next, Internet transmit scientific data?
So? by lennier1 · 2013-07-27 22:39 · Score: 1

Bicycle Repair Men, but in space?
nearly 3 tons - so? by scsirob · 2013-07-27 22:55 · Score: 1

How is it relevant to mention a weight of 3 tons in a weightless environment??

--
To Terminate, or not to Terminate, that's the question - SCSIROB
1. Re:nearly 3 tons - so? by qaz123 · 2013-07-27 23:21 · Score: 1
  
  It's not a weight it's a mass
2. Re:nearly 3 tons - so? by ThreeKelvin · 2013-07-27 23:22 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  If we're talking metric tons, then they're a measure of mass, not weight. Mass and inertia of an object doesn't go away just because it's in a weightless environment.
3. Re:nearly 3 tons - so? by drinkypoo · 2013-07-28 01:20 · Score: 1
  
  How is it relevant to mention a weight of 3 tons in a weightless environment??
  It didn't start in a weightless environment. There's an approximate cost per pound to orbit somewhere between 5k and 10k USD per. It's relevant so you can do the math
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
That's why by JustOK · 2013-07-27 23:13 · Score: 2, Funny

That's why I'll never accept a job as an astronaut. Why take a job were you have to wear a suit?

--
rewriting history since 2109
1. Re:That's why by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-28 01:34 · Score: 0
  
  Well, you have a good point regarding the suit, but considering the circumstances it might not have a lot of weight.
2. Re:That's why by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-28 01:35 · Score: 0
  
  That's a good point regarding the suit, but considering the circumstances it might not have a lot of weight.
Missing the obvious. by Seumas · 2013-07-28 00:02 · Score: 1

I think we can all safely assume Snowden was onboard and is now safely aboard the ISS, under Russian protection?
Draw straws to test the suit.... by syntheticmemory · 2013-07-28 00:37 · Score: 1

Repair instructions provided by Hal 9000.
Iron man by stabiesoft · 2013-07-28 01:56 · Score: 1

So where was iron man musk's space-x to the rescue ship????
Why wasn't it an AFRICAN space vehicle? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-28 03:56 · Score: 0

Could it possibly be because of African DNA? Or is it the land mass that the Russians live on, which magically imbues them with more intelligence than Africans...
Duct Tape by PPH · 2013-07-28 04:05 · Score: 0

n/a

--
Have gnu, will travel.
Since those are all within 2% of each other by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-28 18:28 · Score: 0

Since those kg totals are all within 2% of each other, and the tons figure is given with only two significant digits (about 4% accuracy) a true pedant would recognize that in this case it is irrelevant which of those three tons are meant.