Space station's oxygen generator back in action

Jeff Findley wrote:
The US O2 generator is planned to fly on Node 3, which is scheduled to fly
sometime in 2008.

So the Russians have about three more years to work on their O2 generators
on ISS before the very first US model even flies. Let's hope the US model
works right the first time.

Oh it will work right inially. But how long before they start having problems
with bubbles etc ?

1-Knowing a device is unreliable is one thing.
2-Knowing WHY it is unreliable is another,
3-Finding a permanent cure for the problem is yet another.

We know the russians aren't at 3 yet. But The big question is whether they are
still at 1 or if they are at 2.


If the russians aren't even at 2, this means that knowledge and expertise to
create a reliable O2 generator doesn't (yet) exist. If there is talk of a
radically new design, it would be an indication that the russians have given
up home of making the current design work reliably.

Now, if the US system is based on the current Elektron principles, and the
russians haven't isolated the true cause of problems, chances are that the
american system will suffer the same problems as Elektron, especially if it
was designed in the 1990s before the current experience with Elektron could be
used to try to improve the US design.

Watching crystals grow in a glass jar is easy. Fixing bubble problems in a
system having no windows into it is tough.