"John Doe" wrote in message ...
"Greg D. Moore (Strider)" wrote:
And of course compare, how many years have the Russians been working on
Elektron in orbit vs. the American system. You'd think my now they'd
have a
bit more bugs worked out.

And with all the years in service, you'd think Boeing would have predicted
that a spark due to frayed wiring could cause a fuel tank to explode in a
747
and prevent TWA800. Many unpredictable things do happen over time.

If 747s were falling out of the air as often as Elektron fails, we'd still
be taking ships across the Atlantic.



Systems that use liquids in 0g cannot really be tested on earth. They are
tested and debugged while in orbit. And as time goes on, they discover new
problems that crop up. That is what the space station is REALLY all about.
Not
research on how to grow crystals, but how to make and maintain/fix systems
that are in long term use.

So in other words the purpose of living in space is to find out how to live
in space? A bit circular, wouldn't you say?



They'll find the solution to elektron, and this event will contribute to
the
elektron maintenance manual, MTBF statistics and resupply requirements
over
the long term.

I'd love to see the actual MTBF for Elektron. The perception at least is it
isn't all that great for something that's what, 20 year old technology at
this piont?


And if we had to go to mars today, I'd trust Elektron far more than some
newfangled USA (or other country) O2 generator that has not been tested in
space yet. There have been enough failures of elektron to have a good idea
of
how much and what maintenance will be required over a long period.

There have been enough failures of Elektron that I'd be insisting on
carrying a LOT more O2 cylinders... or staying home.