Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Russian Vehicle Delivers Spacesuit Repair Kit To ISS

Posted by timothy on 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."

8 of 39 comments (clear)

  1. Re:not helpful ! by polar+red · · 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. Spacesuit repair kit? by lxs · · 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 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Person 1 wears the suit
      Person 1 farts
      Person 2 sniffs out the leak

      simples

    2. Re:Spacesuit repair kit? by VortexCortex · · 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.

    3. Re:Spacesuit repair kit? by Hognoxious · · 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."
  3. Re:not helpful ! by Zocalo · · 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!
  4. That's why by JustOK · · 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
  5. Re:nearly 3 tons - so? by ThreeKelvin · · 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.