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MSNBC (Oberg) - Oxygen problems plague space station
MSNBC (Oberg) - Oxygen problems plague space station
Crew not in imminent danger, but failures keep coming http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5953450/ By James Oberg, NBC News space analyst Special to MSNBC // Updated: 3:51 p.m. ET, Sept. 9, 2004 HOUSTON - In what should have been the "home stretch" of their six-month orbital expedition, the crew of the international space station is struggling with new problems in their critical oxygen production system. Balky Russian equipment has been nursed along for months, but has now broken down again in a new and challenging "failure mode." Astronaut Mike Fincke and cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, who are scheduled to be relieved by a new crew in mid-October, are not in any imminent danger, and engineers remain confident that some combination of backup procedures and unprecedented in-flight repairs can keep the two breathing easy. Without a quick resolution of this problem, however, the launch of the new crew would have to be postponed. While not a serious concern yet, the current crew then might have to set the station on "autopilot" and return to Earth by the end of October, leaving the station empty for the first time in four years. Furthermore, this is just the latest in a series of unexpected glitches with the oxygen system. MSNBC.com has obtained internal NASA status reports and has talked with several high-ranking NASA space station officials. The picture that emerges is one of bouts of growing concern (but still short of alarm) interspersed with periods of relief and hope. |
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"Jim Oberg" wrote:
MSNBC (Oberg) - Oxygen problems plague space station Crew not in imminent danger, but failures keep coming http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5953450/ If anyone doubts that going 'round and 'round in LEO is badly needed before we go to Mars, this article should remove that doubt. D. -- Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh. |
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"Derek Lyons" wrote in message ... "Jim Oberg" wrote: MSNBC (Oberg) - Oxygen problems plague space station Crew not in imminent danger, but failures keep coming http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5953450/ If anyone doubts that going 'round and 'round in LEO is badly needed before we go to Mars, this article should remove that doubt. What was most enlightening was finding out that the company that made the Elektrons is out of business and the engineer who (by the sound of it) made the final adjustments to the remaining three units (now on ISS) is dead. We're going to need a new way to generate oxygen from waste water... Where's the US oxygen generator? Jeff -- Remove icky phrase from email address to get a valid address. |
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