Space Station Leaking Vital Coolant

[cronus]

http://www.space.com/21053-space-statio ... olant.html

Space Station Leaking Vital Coolant, says NASA

Astronauts on the International Space Station have discovered a leak of ammonia coolant on their orbiting habitat, and NASA is looking into the problem, though it poses no immediate danger to the crew, officials said today (May 9).

The space station uses chilled liquid ammonia to cool down the power systems on its eight giant solar array panels. A minor leak of this ammonia was first noticed in 2007, and NASA has been studying the issue ever since. In November 2012 two astronauts took a spacewalk to fix the problem, rewiring some coolant lines and installing a spare radiator due to fears the original radiator was damaged by a micrometeorite impact.

At the time, those measures appeared to fix the problem, but today astronauts on the football field-size space station noticed a steady stream of frozen ammonia flakes leaking from the area of the suspect coolant loop in the Photovoltaic Thermal Control System (PVTCS).

(continued)

[mistermack]

Might be the first instance of real damage done by space junk.
The first of many.

[cronus]

Might be the first instance of real damage done by space junk.
The first of many.

I've a feeling they won't come down alive. It's only a feeling. I've been right before though.

[mistermack]

Might be the first instance of real damage done by space junk.
The first of many.

I've a feeling they won't come down alive. It's only a feeling. I've been right before though.

Everyone's been right before. That's really not very impressive. Can you score over 50% ?

[cronus]

Might be the first instance of real damage done by space junk.
The first of many.

I've a feeling they won't come down alive. It's only a feeling. I've been right before though.

Everyone's been right before. That's really not very impressive. Can you score over 50% ?

I'm not a doctor, Jim.

[Jason]

Who designed a system where a simple leak can be studied for 5-6 years and still not be fixed? Didn't they think to place pressure sensors or something at regular intervals in the circuit? You know.. that way they could tell where the pressure is dropping (the gas is leaking) and repair it?

..derp

[cronus]

Who designed a system where a simple leak can be studied for 5-6 years and still not be fixed? Didn't they think to place pressure sensors or something at regular intervals in the circuit? You know.. that way they could tell where the pressure is dropping (the gas is leaking) and repair it?

..derp

A small powered drone with sealant is ideal for leaks of all kinds. They must have trouble with finances not to be able to afford a football with eight mini thrusters some small remote cameras and a tube of sealant.

[JimC]

Who designed a system where a simple leak can be studied for 5-6 years and still not be fixed? Didn't they think to place pressure sensors or something at regular intervals in the circuit? You know.. that way they could tell where the pressure is dropping (the gas is leaking) and repair it?

..derp

A small powered drone with sealant is ideal for leaks of all kinds. They must have trouble with finances not to be able to afford a football with eight mini thrusters some small remote cameras and a tube of sealant.

Its programming would soon screw up, and it would randomly be squirting sealant over any external bit of the station that took its fancy...



I've been more pessimistic than Scrumple...

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Need to mount lasers on independent mobile units that will scan the routes of approach for incoming junk.

[JimC]

Need to mount lasers on independent mobile units that will scan the routes of approach for incoming junk.

Which will undoubtedly screw up, and fry all incoming spacecraft...

(see my previous post...)

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Need to mount lasers on independent mobile units that will scan the routes of approach for incoming junk.

Which will undoubtedly screw up, and fry all incoming spacecraft...

(see my previous post...)

Independent mobile units with heavy armament running around space. What could possibly go wrong?

[JimC]

Need to mount lasers on independent mobile units that will scan the routes of approach for incoming junk.

Which will undoubtedly screw up, and fry all incoming spacecraft...

(see my previous post...)

Independent mobile units with heavy armament running around space. What could possibly go wrong?

Have them all controlled by a super-advanced computer, programmed with all of human knowledge...

"Computer, we need to ask you a vital question - Is there a God?"

"THERE IS NOW..."

[mistermack]

Need to mount lasers on independent mobile units that will scan the routes of approach for incoming junk.

Don't think heating something with a laser would nullify the threat. Break it up, and you just have multiple threats. Unless you can get the parts down to a size that poses no threat. But that would have to be finer than dust. And radar can't detect stuff smaller than finger-size anyway, so there is actually no way of making a satellite safe.

A grain of salt could do real damage, but there is no way of detecting that, in time to zap it, anyway.

[FBM]

It's coming down, I say. And when it does, all those secret nukes and biological agents that they've really been working on all this time will kill us all!