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'Elektron' repair fails



 
 
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  #1  
Old September 10th 04, 09:12 PM
Jim Oberg
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Default 'Elektron' repair fails

Today's attempt to get the broken Elektron Unit-7 up and running worked --
for one hour. then it broke down again.



  #2  
Old September 11th 04, 01:28 PM
Revision
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"Jim Oberg"

Today's attempt to get the broken Elektron
Unit-7 up and running worked --
for one hour. then it broke down again.


The unit operated for an hour after the gas analyzer sensor was
disconnected. The unit may be working normally. No word on why the
Elektron shut down after an hour. Russian flight controllers will have
new ideas by Monday. The flight controllers hold out some hope that it
may just need some software tweaking.


  #3  
Old September 11th 04, 02:06 PM
Jim Oberg
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"Revision" kentnobettsspam@techispdotcom wrote
The unit operated for an hour after the gas analyzer sensor was
disconnected. The unit may be working normally. No word on why the
Elektron shut down after an hour. Russian flight controllers will have
new ideas by Monday. The flight controllers hold out some hope that it
may just need some software tweaking.



Thanks -- yes, they have tricks yet they haven't tried,
but not as many as once.


  #4  
Old September 12th 04, 05:55 AM
Derek Lyons
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"Jim Oberg" wrote:
"Revision" kentnobettsspam@techispdotcom wrote
The unit operated for an hour after the gas analyzer sensor was
disconnected. The unit may be working normally. No word on why the
Elektron shut down after an hour. Russian flight controllers will have
new ideas by Monday. The flight controllers hold out some hope that it
may just need some software tweaking.


Thanks -- yes, they have tricks yet they haven't tried,
but not as many as once.


All-singing, all-dancing, utterly reliable and proveable hardware
needs tweaks and tricks?

I'm shocked, shocked.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.
  #5  
Old September 12th 04, 08:41 AM
John Doe
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Jim Oberg wrote:
Thanks -- yes, they have tricks yet they haven't tried,
but not as many as once.


While you may have contractual obligatios to write sensationalistic articles,
I really do not see what the big fuss is all about. This is not the first time
that Elektron failed nor will it be the last.

If you consult the spaceflight image gallery of previous expeditions, you will
see that they have already taken apart the unit many times for repairs and
problem analysis as well as some replacement of parts.

So they have some new problem. They will work on it and eventually find out
what fails, fix it and get it working again.

The one question that was never answered is whether the USA segment is
actually capable of releasing the Quest O2 into the cabin or if there are
problems, missing software/hardware to perform this life support which should
have been operational by 8A. Note that even when Shuttle was still flying, the
USA, to my knowledge, never used the Quest O2 to compensate for failed
Elektron, especially at times when they had to revert to candles once Progress
O2 was no longer available.

Hopefully, the various US cremembers who have done work on Elektron will be
asked to meet with the US ECLSS engineers to describe the types of problems
and design issues they found on Elektron so that US engineers can make sure
these are fixed/"not reprocdured on the US equivalent of Elektron and other
systems that will be handling water.
  #6  
Old September 12th 04, 10:43 AM
Revision
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The thing that bothers me is that the Elektron shut down after an hour
even with the sensor by-passed.

The software fix sounds promising as dumb computers stay accurate for
years while the machines and sensors they are attached to tend to behave
differently with age.


  #7  
Old September 13th 04, 03:54 PM
Jeff Findley
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"Derek Lyons" wrote in message
...
"Jim Oberg" wrote:
"Revision" kentnobettsspam@techispdotcom wrote
The unit operated for an hour after the gas analyzer sensor was
disconnected. The unit may be working normally. No word on why the
Elektron shut down after an hour. Russian flight controllers will have
new ideas by Monday. The flight controllers hold out some hope that it
may just need some software tweaking.


Thanks -- yes, they have tricks yet they haven't tried,
but not as many as once.


All-singing, all-dancing, utterly reliable and proveable hardware
needs tweaks and tricks?

I'm shocked, shocked.


When will the US O2 generator be operational on ISS so we can compare?

Jeff
--
Remove icky phrase from email address to get a valid address.



  #8  
Old September 14th 04, 12:17 AM
Derek Lyons
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"Jeff Findley" wrote:
"Derek Lyons" wrote in message


All-singing, all-dancing, utterly reliable and proveable hardware
needs tweaks and tricks?

I'm shocked, shocked.


When will the US O2 generator be operational on ISS so we can compare?


Dunno. And frankly I don't expect them to be much better than
Elektron. My comment was more directed towards the constant refrain
in the sci.space.* groups that Russian hardware is nothing less than
Platonic.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.
  #9  
Old September 14th 04, 03:12 AM
Greg D. Moore \(Strider\)
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"Derek Lyons" wrote in message
...
"Jeff Findley" wrote:
"Derek Lyons" wrote in message


All-singing, all-dancing, utterly reliable and proveable hardware
needs tweaks and tricks?

I'm shocked, shocked.


When will the US O2 generator be operational on ISS so we can compare?


Dunno. And frankly I don't expect them to be much better than
Elektron. My comment was more directed towards the constant refrain
in the sci.space.* groups that Russian hardware is nothing less than
Platonic


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.



D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.



  #10  
Old September 14th 04, 07:18 AM
John Doe
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"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.

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.

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.

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.
 




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