ISS News and Discussion

[Mike1080i]

I’m impressed that the camera on the end of the Canadarm2 was able to locate a 0.8mm hole. I would not have thought that was possible. Perhaps the escaping coolant left streaks on the vehicle that were easy to see.

The Canadarm 2 picked up Dextre to use for the inspection. Dextre has five cameras, including one inside each hand.

 

[ecarfan]

The Canadarm 2 picked up Dextre to use for the inspection. Dextre has five cameras, including one inside each hand.

Thanks, very interesting! I did not know about the “Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator”. Some details at the bottom of this NASA web page. Here is the CSA web page about it. A truly awesome piece of technology. Built in Brampton, ON, Canada.

 

[scaesare]

Nor I... cool indeed.

Thanks.

 

[ecarfan]

This Soyu coolant leak story is getting more interesting. New Ars Technica report Backup

Sergei Krikalev, the executive director of Roscosmos' Human Space Flight Programs, said the ISS partners already performed an analysis comparing the orientation of the hole to the likely direction that any micrometeorite would have come from. The two do not match, so there's no indication of how the damage occurred.

So if it was not a micrometeorite impact, it seems to me that leaves two possibilities; spontaneous coolant line rupture due to a manufacturing/mechanical defect or an orbital debris impact. No mention in the article of NASA or Roscosmos doing an analysis to see if the orientation of the hole lines up with an orbital debris impact.

At the moment, however, we're still unsure about whether the damaged Soyuz can safely carry the crew back to Earth in the absence of a system for cooling its internal compartment. "As soon as we start to power up equipment and as soon as crew is going to be inside the crew compartment, temperatures start to rise," Krikalev said. "We don't know exactly how high it's going to [get], and our specialists in Russia, together with specialists in Houston, are going to estimate the rate of the rise of the temperature and what maximum temperature that can be reached during different modes of reentry."

 

[Cosmacelf]

This Soyu coolant leak story is getting more interesting. New Ars Technica report Backup

So if it was not a micrometeorite impact, it seems to me that leaves two possibilities; spontaneous coolant line rupture due to a manufacturing/mechanical defect or an orbital debris impact. No mention in the article of NASA or Roscosmos doing an analysis to see if the orientation of the hole lines up with an orbital debris impact.

It still could have been an impact, but one so small it didn’t trigger an immediate breach…

 

[ecarfan]

It still could have been an impact, but one so small it didn’t trigger an immediate breach…

Well, based on what I’ve read they have not ruled out an orbital debris impact, just a micrometeorite impact.

There are likely many thousands of pieces of orbital debris in LEO that are just a few mm in size.

 

[ecarfan]

Not sure if this has been posted before; an informative Scott Manley video about the Canadarm on the ISS.

 

[ivengo]

This might be interesting

NASA mulls SpaceX backup plan for crew of Russia's leaky Soyuz ship

NASA is exploring whether SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft can potentially offer an alternative ride home for some crew members of the International Space Station after a Russian capsule sprang a coolant leak while docked to the orbital lab.

www.reuters.com

 

[EVCollies]

Can SpaceX cargo take astronauts back home?

 

[Grendal]

Can SpaceX cargo take astronauts back home?

Definitely not. Cargo Dragon lacks a lot of significant things for transporting people. Most notably, any of the things needed to create an atmosphere. I'm sure the astronauts would use one if there were no other options available but it would be unlikely they would survive the attempt.

 

[ecarfan]

I think NASA is looking into possibly using a Crew Dragon in case Roscosmos cannot get another Soyuz ready in time.

At this point I find it hard to believe that anyone would risk using the leaky Soyuz that is currently on station to take humans back to Earth unless there was an emergency situation.

 

[Grendal]

I think NASA is looking into possibly using a Crew Dragon in case Roscosmos cannot get another Soyuz ready in time.

At this point I find it hard to believe that anyone would risk using the leaky Soyuz that is currently on station to take humans back to Earth unless there was an emergency situation.

Since SpaceX is a privately owned company, I don't expect that Russia would cover the cost of a Crew Dragon launch. However, NASA could authorize and pay for a launch and work out the expense with Russia. Seat trading has already been done. So using a Crew Dragon for a rescue run could happen.

 

[ecarfan]

I don't expect that Russia would cover the cost of a Crew Dragon launch.

I agree. Just Putin’s pride would prevent it. I don’t think Roscosmos would even pay for seats. But it certainly makes sense for NASA to make contingency plans to at least bring Rubio home on schedule if they want to.

 

[ecarfan]

Russia to launch mission to rescue stranded ISS crew after meteoroid strike

Moscow will launch a rescue vessel to the International Space Station next month to bring home three crew members who are in effect stuck in orbit after their original capsule was hit by a meteoroid...The damaged MS-22 will return without a crew once its replacement arrives, Roscosmos added.

Roscosmos said the diameter of the micrometeoroid that hit the docked Soyuz was tiny, creating a hole in the capsule that was only 1mm in diameter.

I question the accuracy of that news report by The Guardian. I was not aware that Roscosmos had specifically said that a micrometeorite caused the Soyuz coolant leak.

 

[ecarfan]

I was not aware that Roscosmos had specifically said that a micrometeorite caused the Soyuz coolant leak.

And I stand corrected. At a NASA/Roscosmos media teleconference today both agencies stated that the likely explanation for the coolant leak was a “micrometeorite impact” even though they said it was not related to recent “meteorite showers”. Roscosmos said a manufacturing defect has been ruled out.

I think that we will never know for sure what the cause was.

 

[ecarfan]

Eric Berger has a slightly different take on the cause of the leak:

Russian and US spaceflight engineers have been analyzing the cause of the leak and its implications for future travel to and from the large laboratory in low-Earth orbit. They have now deduced that a micrometeoroid or small piece of orbital debris struck the external cooling loop of the Soyuz spacecraft

And he reiterates that point later in the article.

On the question of contingency plans to evacuate the station in case of an emergency and how the damaged Soyuz effects those plans:

Russian and NASA officials have been looking at contingency plans in the event of an emergency on the space station between now and when Soyuz MS-23 arrives in February. In such a contingency, one or more of the MS-22 crew members could find safe harbor and potentially return to Earth inside the Crew-5 Dragon currently attached to the space station. That vehicle nominally carries four astronauts, but it could bring more people home.

I wonder what re-entry would be like for someone without a seat in Crew Dragon. NASA states that during re-entry astronauts experience about 1.4G, so I guess that if they could rig up some padding inside the capsule they would be okay without a seat. A proper seat is critical during launch when forces can exceed 3G.

 

[adiggs]

Eric Berger has a slightly different take on the cause of the leak:


And he reiterates that point later in the article.

On the question of contingency plans to evacuate the station in case of an emergency and how the damaged Soyuz effects those plans:


I wonder what re-entry would be like for someone without a seat in Crew Dragon. NASA states that during re-entry astronauts experience about 1.4G, so I guess that if they could rig up some padding inside the capsule they would be okay without a seat. A proper seat is critical during launch when forces can exceed 3G.

I know I'd take a 1.4G ride, with or without extra padding, if my alternative was getting to try parachuting from orbit without a parachute.

Heck - I'd make room for my buddy so that we were each other's extra padding. I'm generous that way.

 

[Grendal]

NASA Astronauts add a fifth seat to SpaceX Dragon to 'provide lifeboat capabilities' at the Space Station after Soyuz coolant leak

The plan is to remove NASA Astronauts Frank Rubio’s seat liner from the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft to install it on Crew Dragon Endurance. The astronauts started to install the seat liner on January 17 and January 18 to play it safe. “The change allows for increased crew protection by reducing the...

www.tesmanian.com

 

[ecarfan]

From that article:

The plan is to remove NASA Astronauts Frank Rubio’s seat liner from the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft to install it on Crew Dragon Endurance.

But…how can a Soyuz “seat liner” be securely mounted inside a Crew Dragon? Are they going to just whip out their drills and make a bunch of holes in the floor of the Crew Dragon and bolt it in?

Here are some photos of the Soyuz “seat liner”.

 

[scaesare]

From that article:

But…how can a Soyuz “seat liner” be securely mounted inside a Crew Dragon? Are they going to just whip out their drills and make a bunch of holes in the floor of the Crew Dragon and bolt it in?

Here are some photos of the Soyuz “seat liner”.

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