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Old September 15th 04, 01:27 AM
Derek Lyons
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John Doe wrote:

"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.


That sounds pretty sensible and persuasive, to the uneducated on the
issues. Sure Boeing knew frayed wiring was a hazard, they also knew
that frayed wiring in a fuel tank was a hazard. What they didn't
know, and had no reasonable way of knowing was that Flight 800 had
problems and that they were critical. Out here in the real world you
can't ground an aircraft type on a whim. (Assuming of course that
wiring was the cause of the problem... Something that's not known for
certain.)

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.


Sensible. The problem is, the Russians advertised this as a
functional device ready for operational service. Like so much else
they have claimed, it's been shown to be a lie.

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.


That's nice. However, the Elektron isn't being manufactured any more.

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.


You'd be a fool. Correction... You be a *dead* damm fool.

D.
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