Space station crew hears crunching sound

Space station crew hears crunching sound
By MARK CARREAU
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
Nov. 26, 2003, 5:47PM

The U.S. and Russian crew of the international space station reported a
brief unexpected metallic crunching noise outside the outpost early today.

Astronaut Mike Foale told NASA's Mission Control the noise sounded as if
something had struck the aft end of the Russian module that houses the
crew's sleeping quarters, kitchen and lavoratory.

Both U.S. and Russian ground-based experts could find no evidence of
penetration of the station's airtight hull or the cooling system for the
electronic equipment that is responsible for many of the operations.

"All systems are intact," said NASA's Rob Navias, a space station program
spokesman. "All of the data from the U.S. and Russian sides shows nothing
out of the ordinary."

Later, Foale used video cameras on the station's 57-foot-long robot arm to
scan the external areas of the outpost from which the noise seemed to come
in search of potential damage.

"Unfortunately, we're looking tangential at the area we think we heard the
noise come from," Foale reported after 30 minutes of scanning. "We don't see
any blemish at all."

Both Foale, the station's commander, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri,
the flight engineer, heard the noise at 1:59 a.m. CST, as they were
completing their breakfast and cleanup period.

"It sounded like a metal tin can kind of being expanded and compressed,"
Foale informed Mission Control a moment later. "It was a noise that lasted
about a second. It sounded like an impact or something."

"For a couple of seconds there was a strange noise, probably from outside,"
Kaleri told Russia's Mission Control. "I don't think there was a jet firing.
We heard the noise, both of us."

Several thrusters that can be used to streer the space station as it circles
the Earth are attached outside the area where the two men were.

Ground control joined the astronauts in checking external video camera views
as well as internal air and coolant pressure levels. None of the readings
explained the noise, though more analysis was under way.

The Department of Defense, which monitors ortibal space with radar for
surprise missile launches, tracks the movements of thousands of pieces of
debris from old satellites and rocket launches in orbit around the Earth. If
the military surveillance forecasts a close approach, NASA is alerted so the
space station can be maneuvered safely away.

Foale and Kaleri continued their normal maintenance and research activities.
They planned to observe the Thanksgiving holiday with a light work schedule
and a meal that included turkey and chicken and rice.

The two men began a 6 1/2-month tour of duty aboard the 240-mile-high
orbital outpost in mid-October.

Earlier this month, the space station marked its third year of continuous
occupation, a milestone accomplished in spite of the fatal Columbia shuttle
accident. The Feb. 1 tragedy grounded NASA's shuttle fleet and forced the
suspension of assembly activities until at least next fall.

"It sounded like a metal tin can kind of being expanded and compressed,"
Foale informed Mission Control a moment later. "It was a noise that lasted
about a second. It sounded like an impact or something."

A debris hit itself wouldn't sound like this would it? At these
speeds (several km/s), we're talking more about vaporizing than
crumpling, right? Now, maybe the results of a hit would be crumpling
in something not directly hit.

I wonder if it was failure of some small piece of structure which was
part of the station itself (due to fatigue or whatever).

What's the next step? Maybe an EVA to go look, if the arm can't get a
good view of that area?

"JimO" wrote in message
...


Later, Foale used video cameras on the station's 57-foot-long robot arm to
scan the external areas of the outpost from which the noise seemed to come
in search of potential damage.


Lesson not learnt from Columbia (frankly, this should have been learnt a
LONG time ago)

ISS should, or MUST have a facility for total self video inspection - there
may be damage to a module and they cant see it, that's just not right.

I know nothing could have been done about this since columbia, but it's the
same lesson.

Perhaps the docked Progress can undock briefly, observe the area, and
re-dock?

Doug

"Jim Kingdon" wrote
What's the next step? Maybe an EVA to go look, if the arm can't get a
good view of that area?

Good comments.

Actually, the February EVA was already scheduled in that very area, the back
end of the SM where the cameras can't see. It was connected with
assembly/testing of gear associated with ESA's ATV docking, now expected
early in 2005.

Seems like a good reason to go look.

"JimO" wrote in


MORE from the on-orbit status report:

Early this morning the CDR reported an anomalous "metallic" noise,
apparently coming from the outside of the SM. At about the same time, the
ground noted a slight disturbance on the USOS CMGs. The episode is under
investigation; internal pressure monitoring has up to now indicated no cabin
air depressurization, nor have any other instruments shown anything amiss.
Later today (~3:00pm EST), the SSRMS (Space Station Remote Manipulator
System) will be used in two single-joint maneuvers to do a visual inspection
with the elbow tip camera of the general SM location where the noise seemed
to originate.

"Doug Ellison" wrote in
:

"JimO" wrote in message
...

Later, Foale used video cameras on the station's 57-foot-long robot
arm to scan the external areas of the outpost from which the noise
seemed to come in search of potential damage.


Lesson not learnt from Columbia (frankly, this should have been learnt
a LONG time ago)

ISS should, or MUST have a facility for total self video inspection -

Even if the ISS program *did* learn that lesson from Columbia, how do you
expect them to launch and install all those cameras *while the shuttle
fleet is still grounded*?

Perhaps the docked Progress can undock briefly, observe the area, and
re-dock?

Not smart. Low resolution cameras, plus the crew would have to fly the
Progress into a region where they couldn't easily observe it, and could not
get accurate range/rdot data. Have *you* learned no lessons from Progress-
Mir?

--
JRF

Reply-to address spam-proofed - to reply by E-mail,
check "Organization" (I am not assimilated) and
think one step ahead of IBM.

In article ,
Jorge R. Frank wrote:
"Doug Ellison" wrote in
:

"JimO" wrote in message
...

Later, Foale used video cameras on the station's 57-foot-long robot
arm to scan the external areas of the outpost from which the noise
seemed to come in search of potential damage.


Lesson not learnt from Columbia (frankly, this should have been learnt
a LONG time ago)

ISS should, or MUST have a facility for total self video inspection -

Even if the ISS program *did* learn that lesson from Columbia, how do you
expect them to launch and install all those cameras *while the shuttle
fleet is still grounded*?

Isn't that what the Canadarm2 is for? Didn't one of the releases say
they were going to do this?

Nick

(Nicholas Fitzpatrick) wrote in
:

In article ,
Jorge R. Frank wrote:
"Doug Ellison" wrote in
:

"JimO" wrote in message
...

Later, Foale used video cameras on the station's 57-foot-long robot
arm to scan the external areas of the outpost from which the noise
seemed to come in search of potential damage.


Lesson not learnt from Columbia (frankly, this should have been
learnt a LONG time ago)

ISS should, or MUST have a facility for total self video inspection
-

Even if the ISS program *did* learn that lesson from Columbia, how do
you expect them to launch and install all those cameras *while the
shuttle fleet is still grounded*?

Isn't that what the Canadarm2 is for? Didn't one of the releases say
they were going to do this?

They did. But the arm can't quite see everything.


--
JRF

Reply-to address spam-proofed - to reply by E-mail,
check "Organization" (I am not assimilated) and
think one step ahead of IBM.

"Jorge R. Frank" writes:

Perhaps the docked Progress can undock briefly, observe the area, and
re-dock?

Not smart. Low resolution cameras, plus the crew would have to fly the
Progress into a region where they couldn't easily observe it, and could not
get accurate range/rdot data. Have *you* learned no lessons from Progress-
Mir?

Foale should have! What an interesting time he has on space stations
with things that go bump (or crunch) in the night.

"JimO" writes:

"JimO" wrote in

MORE from the on-orbit status report:

Early this morning the CDR reported an anomalous "metallic" noise,
apparently coming from the outside of the SM. At about the same time, the
ground noted a slight disturbance on the USOS CMGs.

So they're not *just* hearing things.

The episode is under
investigation; internal pressure monitoring has up to now indicated no cabin
air depressurization, nor have any other instruments shown anything amiss.

But unlike when the Progress hit Mir, there is no sign, like there was
then (alarms going off, ears popping, clouds appearing outside Spektr)
of a hull breach. So something happened to impart a force, either
something external hitting or something attached going POOF! (I know,
that's not the noise they heard). It's always nice to find out exactly
what happened, since you can't do anything about it until you have good
information.