Friday, December 13, 2013

Astronauts Safe As NASA Investigates Space Station Cooling Problem, Agency Says

Astronauts Safe As NASA Investigates Space Station Cooling Problem, Agency Says:
A view of the International Space Station as seen by the last departing space shuttle crew, STS-135. Credit: NASA
Astronauts Safe As NASA Investigates Space Station Cooling Problem, Agency Says
A view of the International Space Station as seen by the last departing space shuttle crew, STS-135. Credit: NASA
A cooling problem on the International Space Station has resulted in partial shutdowns of noncritical systems on the Harmony node, Columbus Laboratory and Japanese Kibo laboratory, NASA said yesterday (Dec. 11).
The agency emphasized that the six-person Expedition 38 crew is not in danger and that its ground control teams are working as quickly as possible to resolve the issue. While a spacewalk is a possibility to fix the problem, it’s too early to say what NASA and other space station partners will decide to do, officials added.
Update, 11:16 a.m. EST: After spending the night moving critical systems to a single cooling loop and verifying the configuration was stable, controllers on the ground plan to move the troublesome valve to several positions and monitor the effect on cooling temperatures, according to a NASA TV update. The crew is going about their activities as much as possible, although they’re on a “reduced timeline” because some non-critical payloads aren’t running as usual. NASA also said it’s looking at whether the expected Dec. 18 launch of the Cygnus cargo spacecraft to station can proceed as planned.
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Read the rest of Astronauts Safe As NASA Investigates Space Station Cooling Problem, Agency Says (524 words)

© Elizabeth Howell for Universe Today, 2013. |Permalink |One comment |
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