41–50 of 330 posts
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Duct tape should fix them right up
The cosmonauts (Russian segment) already tried the tape [0] - it helped, somewhat, but did not fix the problem. Definitely not as advertised... [0] https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Air_leak_rate_at_Russias_...
American components, Russian components, all made in Taiwan!
Materials aging in space is a pretty deep subject. That it is the Russian Zvevda module that is leaking/cracking is likely related to the fact that it is also the oldest module in the ISS. The ISS is/was scheduled to be retired in 2024 (aka 3 years from now) but there are calls to keep it going. My fantasy would be to have SpaceX move it into the Lunar L1 Lagrange point which would keep it in use but it would have to…
Thankfully, we do have SpaceX et. al. who really are making some big strides -- but how do we multiply & speed up that effort? ... sorry, I'm being selfish, but I really want to go to Mars.
Not a big space person, but this makes me wonder: why have we not planned for a new ISS? We must have better tech nowadays from all the working countries/groups currently involved, plus SpaceX and other space companies' backing that would not have existed as it does now back when this ISS was first designed/created.
I'm fine with ISS being open for commercial operations, but can't help but feel unease by the entire ISS being a commercial endeavour. But then again, about a fifth of NASA's budget goes to keeping the lights on in ISS.
Materials aging in space is a pretty deep subject. That it is the Russian Zvevda module that is leaking/cracking is likely related to the fact that it is also the oldest module in the ISS. The ISS is/was scheduled to be retired in 2024 (aka 3 years from now) but there are calls to keep it going. My fantasy would be to have SpaceX move it into the Lunar L1 Lagrange point which would keep it in use but it would have to…
Is there any reason to park in at a Lagrange point instead of just a high orbit? There aren't that many Lagrange points, so we should probably avoid cluttering them with objects that don't need to be there.
Not a big space person, but this makes me wonder: why have we not planned for a new ISS? We must have better tech nowadays from all the working countries/groups currently involved, plus SpaceX and other space companies' backing that would not have existed as it does now back when this ISS was first designed/created.
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Is there any reason to park in at a Lagrange point instead of just a high orbit? There aren't that many Lagrange points, so we should probably avoid cluttering them with objects that don't need to be there.
At least for the Moon, the lunar orbit is generally unstable: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_orbit
Put it in a high orbit, and point a telescope at it every now and then to update our record of it's orbit. By the time we are ready to visit it, even if its orbit changed, its new orbit would not be any more inconvenient then where we left it.
Not a big space person, but this makes me wonder: why have we not planned for a new ISS? We must have better tech nowadays from all the working countries/groups currently involved, plus SpaceX and other space companies' backing that would not have existed as it does now back when this ISS was first designed/created.
The ISS mostly happened because it was a way to keep ex-Soviet aerospace scientists and engineers doing aerospace things rather than, say, go build ICBMs for third world countries. Same as Arecibo happened because the USAF wanted a big radar and the Hubble happened because (I forgot which spy agency it was) had a spare satellite. Sad when you think about it...
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You're joking but this reminds me of a hard sci-fi novel I read recently, Saturn Run[0]. One of the minor worldbuilding trivia there is that adhesives seem to be way overused to fix and modify things in space. (The book also features the coolest design for a radiator I've ever seen anywhere.) -- [0] - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24611668-saturn-run
Out of the curiosity, what is the radiator design?
Gur fuvc gur cebgntbavfgf geniry ba vf cebcryyrq ol INFVZE guehfgref, cbjrerq ol n ahpyrne ernpgbe ehaavat zbygra zrgny nf pbbynag. Gb enqvngr njnl tvtnjnggf bs gurezny cbjre, gurl rzcybl n enqvngbe gung vf rffragvnyyl n ynetr neenl bs 3Q cevagref. Gurer ner ornzf fbzr uhaqerqf bs zrgref ybat, gung pbagvahbhfyl rkgehqr gur yvdhvq zrgny pbbynag vagb fcnpr nf ybat naq guva evoobaf. Gur zrgny evoobaf pbby qbja, enqvngvat njnl raretl, naq ner thvqrq ryrpgebzntargvpnyyl gbjneqf n ornz shyy bs ebyyref, gung pncgher gur sebmra evoobaf, juvpu gura trg zrygrq naq chfurq guebhtu gur ernpgbe ntnva. Gur flfgrz erdhverf evqvphybhf nzbhagf bs npgvir pbageby, naq nf lbh pna vzntvar, znlurz pna unccra vs vg znyshapgvbaf.
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Out of the curiosity, what is the radiator design?
rot13 because it's a bit of a spoiler (IMO half the fun of reading hard sci-fi is seeing the science and engineering being presented): Gur fuvc gur cebgntbavfgf geniry ba vf cebcryyrq ol INFVZE guehfgref, cbjrerq ol n ahpyrne ernpgbe ehaavat zbygra zrgny nf pbbynag. Gb enqvngr njnl tvtnjnggf bs gurezny cbjre, gurl rzcybl n enqvngbe gung vf rffragvnyyl n ynetr neenl bs 3Q cevagref. Gurer ner ornzf fbzr uhaqerqf bs zrg…