Brian Gaff wrote:
Still a long time, and the interconnecting node would need pressurising
presumably, and pressures equalised or there might be problems opening the
door.


Lets say it was a medical emergency with immediate need to transfer
medecine to/from the station. Couldn't they equalise in a real hurry as
soon as the hard dock is done, verify that there isn't a masive leak
(should take a minute or two) and then open the hatch, transfer what needs
to be transfered. And at a later stage, you close the hatches and perform
the full leak test which takes a long time to check that there aren't any
minute leaks.


If the shuttle is to remain for a week with the hatches always opened, I
can understand you want to make sure you have a perfect seal. Over a period
of a week a lot of air could be lost. (and I assume some very annoying
noises). And should a leak be discovered after docking is complete, it
would be a real pain to have to perform just about all tasks for undocking
(removing air ducts, umbilicales etc) and probably partially release the
docking mechansm and re-engage it and perform the full tests. This could
really disrupt the schedule of tasks during the week. So better spend a bit
more time to do it properly at the first time so you don't have to worry in
mid mission.

Question: lets say they had a faulty seal. Can they partially release the
docking clamps (without pushing the shuttle away) and re-engage them ? Or
is the only way to fully release the clamps let the shuttle take enough
distance for station cameras to inspect the shuttle docking collar (and
shuttle photograph the PMA2 collar) and have the shuttle perform a full
docking operation once again ?