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One hull crack located in ISS, another one suspected

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Re: One hull crack located in ISS, another one suspected

#91

Post by derekp7 »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #2

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…

For future spacecraft, would it be possible to have a double hull with a self-healing jell in the middle? (In concept, I'm thinking similar to tire sealer, something with clotting agents in it).

Re: One hull crack located in ISS, another one suspected

#92

Post by bnralt »

ska wrote: post #54
lsllc wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think we need a "Space New Deal", I'm honestly saddened by the lack of progress in space in my lifetime. I mean we've done some great work, but we haven't made any giant leaps since getting to the moon 51.5 years ago. 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.

> but how do we multiply & speed up that effort? I think it's pretty much politically impossible. The first big space push was mostly a political pissing match (i.e. not really driven by doing it for its own sake). It's pretty easy to come up with other major challenges that most people will consider more important that also aren't getting funding ... so private industry looks more likely to get some traction. States…

> The first big space push was mostly a political pissing match (i.e. not really driven by doing it for its own sake).

My understanding is that the Defense Department was interested in human manned spy satellites liked the planned Manned Orbital Laboratory early on, but that automation progressed to the point where it was preferable.

I think that's one thing people miss when they talk about lack of progress in space. We use space, a lot. The thing is, in terms of things we actually want to do, automated vessels work a lot better than manned ones. People who are focused on manned space missions aren't focused on space, they're advocates for one particular tech stack that's extremely inefficient at doing the things we currently want to do in space.

Re: One hull crack located in ISS, another one suspected

#93

Post by gizmo686 »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #77
gizmo686 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Station keeping. The L4 and L5 points are nominally self stable, if you put something there it won't wander off. (this isn't true of the L1 point which is more dynamic). To do station keeping you need reaction mass and working thrusters. That level of infrastructure requires some maintenance, whereas you could put an empty/abandoned ISS in the L4 or L5 point and it would just sit there for no additional cost.

Right, but why do you need to do station keeping at all. Tracking objects is cheap, and a normal graveyard orbit isn't going to be perturbed so much that it would be notably harder to reach again in any reasonable timeframe.

Re: One hull crack located in ISS, another one suspected

#94

Post by userbinator »

shard wrote: post #83
xxpor wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not even the interview that's the issue, the actual text the author wrote is a mess too. >He underscored that air loss due to the crack are insignificant. >In November, Russian cosmonauts photographed the suspected leak location on the outside of the ISS, but found no hull damage at where the crack is supposed to be. Granted, it's understandable, but it sounds like someone who learned English in school but never…

I tried to make the two sentences grammatically correct: >He underscored that the air loss due to the crack a̶r̶e̶ is insignificant. >In November, Russian cosmonauts photographed the suspected leak location on the outside of the ISS, but found no hull damage a̶t̶ where the crack is supposed to be. These seem minor to me, compared with some horrific ad copy that I've seen, which mangled SVO order or used completely in…

Yes, Russian has no articles. Omitted (or incorrect) a/an/the is one of the more distinctive signs of someone whose first language is Russian.

Re: One hull crack located in ISS, another one suspected

#95

Post by onethought »

snoshy wrote: post #51
spike021 wrote: post #32

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.

Largely because it's a fantastically expensive undertaking, and hasn't quite borne out the fruits that were speculated about over the years. USA provides a huge bulk of the funding, expertise, and personnel required to keep the program running. That's not to say that Russia, Canada, Japan, etc. don't do their part, but it's really not as much of a truly global joint effort as you might be led to believe. Then there's…

The problem with Privatised space industry is your country doesn't control the agenda. SpaceX is a pretty rare thing, the rest of the private space industry (Blue Origin, Virgin, Boeing) is as much of a money pit as NASA was.

Then you have rapidly progressing government run space programs like China and India. The fact that the US banned China from the ISS and banned Non-Americans from participating in what it deems as weapon systems has only driven more resolve for home grown/soveraign alternatives.

Re: One hull crack located in ISS, another one suspected

#96

Post by babs56 »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #2

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…

Where do you get this information from? I would love to read more about it...

Re: One hull crack located in ISS, another one suspected

#97

Post by calcifer »

keyle wrote: post #60

I burst into laughter reading the Russian's quotes. I love how casual the astronaut is about it! I'm no astronaut but I wouldn't be sleeping with crack in my hull, leaking air.

They leak 0.3 mmHg per day and are currently at 750 mmHg. An emergency is 0.5-1 mmHg per minute. They really don't have anything urgent to worry about.

Re: One hull crack located in ISS, another one suspected

#99

Post by waheoo »

lsllc wrote: post #42
ChuckMcM wrote: post #2

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…

I think we need a "Space New Deal", I'm honestly saddened by the lack of progress in space in my lifetime. I mean we've done some great work, but we haven't made any giant leaps since getting to the moon 51.5 years ago. 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.

That's what space force was wasn't it?

Re: One hull crack located in ISS, another one suspected

#100

Post by calcifer »

gumby wrote: post #4

Look like one of the panels is damaged too -- what's the story on that?

It's a radiator panel that was damaged ~12 years ago, possibly due to a micrometeorite. It didn't really cause a significant drop in cooling capacity so they left it alone.
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