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Space Station Computers Partially Restored

Posted by Zonk on Fri Jun 15, 2007 03:15 PM
from the i'd-like-to-see-geek-squad-get-up-there dept.
Space Science IT
Raver32 writes with the news that a partial restoration of computer control was established on the International Space Station (ISS) Thursday. Systems controlling critical elements like navigation and life-support failed on Wednesday. "Flight controllers were able to re-establish some communication with the computers overnight, with Russian engineers working Thursday to restore the rest of the system, NASA space station flight director Holly Ridings said. The U.S. space agency and Russian officials are still trying to determine the cause of a failure affecting multiple computers in the Russian network ... Since an earlier failure on Monday, thrusters on the space shuttle Atlantis have been fired periodically to help maintain the station's position. The Russian and U.S. space agencies said they could extend Atlantis's mission by one or two days to fix the problem. In the worst-case scenario, NASA said the ISS crew members -- two Russians and an American -- may be evacuated from the station."
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[+] Space Station Partners Bicker Over Closure Date 222 comments
jcdick1 writes "The current partners in the ISS are in discussion regarding the closure date of the space station, even though it still has not been fully assembled. 'The United States insists it will pull out of the station at the end of 2015 while Russia wants its life prolonged, said European Space Agency (ESA) chief Jean-Jacques Dordain at an astronautics congress in Hyderabad, southern India. NASA administrator Michael Griffin has told space station partners that the US agency has no plans for "utilization and exploitation" of the science research lab for more than five years after it is completed, Dordain said.'"
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  • OLD OLD news (Score:5, Informative)

    by Profane MuthaFucka (574406) * <busheatskok@gmail.com> on Friday June 15 2007, @03:18PM (#19524031) Homepage Journal
    The computers are dead, not half alive as previously reported.

    http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2007-06 -15-spacewalk-three_N.htm [usatoday.com]

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Jugalator (259273)
      Ouch... Even if I realize the ISS project itself has become a bit controversial with the funding and its goals (although its funding is nothing in comparison to so many other int'l projects I think the world could be without), this is sending some chills to me, if not only because of the economical catastrophy it would be for NASA, Russia, and the international space community with all that money down the drain if we would experience a worst case scenario here. Jeez, it's 2007 and the STS and ISS projects W

          • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

            by CodeBuster (516420)
            The second Atlantis leaves, should the thrusters from The Soyuz and The Progress not be sufficient to stabilize the ISS, it's a goner.

            So, they either (a) fix the computers that control the gyros on the space station OR (b) everyone still up there boards either the Soyuz or Atlantis and everyone bails leaving the station to its fiery demise after it tumbles out of control OR (c) the Russians send a progress craft up there with more fuel (does the space shuttle support in flight refueling?) and consumable

  • I blame W.G.A. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 15 2007, @03:21PM (#19524069)
    They forgot to register their Vista ISS edition copy of Windows and their 30 day trial is over.

  • There are times... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by AKAImBatman (238306) * <akaimbatman@gm a i l . com> on Friday June 15 2007, @03:21PM (#19524073) Homepage Journal

    In the worst-case scenario, NASA said the ISS crew members -- two Russians and an American -- may be evacuated from the station.
    ...when having an overly spacious craft can come in handy. Should an evacuation be necessary, at least we know the Shuttle can carry them all.

    Of course, if we launched enough smaller ships to where we had multiple birds in the air at any given time, space for evacuation wouldn't be a problem. Just catch the next transport.

    Which reminds me, did NASA ever get around to installing the emergency escape craft? I know it was supposed to be a stripped-down capsule, but I don't remember if they just decided to keep something docked at all times instead.
    • They finished about 90% of the development work, and then canceled it.

    • Re:There are times... (Score:5, Informative)

      by cmowire (254489) on Friday June 15 2007, @03:44PM (#19524423) Homepage
      In the early days (Space Station Freedom) they figured that if anything bad happened, they'd just send up another shuttle to rescue them, so the nodes were designed as secure refuges for the several-day wait for the next shuttle to show up.

      Eventually NASA realized that wouldn't work, so they went through a series of different designs. Initially, they were going to dust-off the Apollo Capsule design and use that. Then they got creative.

      The design, as specced when they started launching, was to put a lifting body capsule specifically designed for the purpose. Until it was ready, they'd just use Soyuz capsules.

      Then the special purpose vehicle became a general purpose vehicle, so that they didn't have to worry about the shuttle nearly as much.

      Then the Columbia blew up and the general purpose vehicle became our last best hope for a space program, but as a dusted-off Apollo Capsule instead of a fancy lifting body.

      Now, they just dock a single Soyuz capsule. Eventually they will have a pair of Soyuz capsules docked. Which is fine, it's just that the Russians have a habit of abusing their position whenever they are the only way up and down from the ISS.

      Also, note that if the goal is to get somebody *down* from orbit, it isn't too hard. A heat-shield, a space-suit, a nitrogen-gas thruster, and a parachute. Maybe a cheezy visual alignment aid to get the thruster in the right point and a map to make sure you land on land. A few hundered pounds of hardware, per person. The problem has always been feature-creep more than anything else.

      • Re:There are times... (Score:4, Informative)

        by compro01 (777531) on Friday June 15 2007, @03:56PM (#19524609)
        Also, note that if the goal is to get somebody *down* from orbit, it isn't too hard. A heat-shield, a space-suit, a nitrogen-gas thruster, and a parachute. Maybe a cheezy visual alignment aid to get the thruster in the right point and a map to make sure you land on land. A few hundered pounds of hardware, per person. The problem has always been feature-creep more than anything else.

        they're actually working on that. there was an interesting article in popsci in the latest issue. they're planning to have the first actual jump-from-orbit test by 2009.

            • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

              by MichaelSmith (789609)

              I'm not sure why you think that a lifting body capable of controlled supersonic flight is not as "fancy" as a lifting body capable of controlled subsonic flight.

              The latter can soft land with wheels or skids. The former relies on parachutes.

              • I think I understand, now. This is some sort of pissing contest where your lifting body is supposed to be much cooler than my lifting body. In fact I think that all lifting bodies are pretty cool. I think single-stage, self-propelled, "airplane"-style lifting bodies are pretty cool. The Apollo capsule always struck my fancy because it was a lifting body where I didn't expect one. I think it's unfair to dismiss it as not being a "fancy" lifting body. But as they say, "you can't argue with taste". You ob

    • Should an evacuation be necessary, at least we know the Shuttle can carry them all.

      The ISS crew would be very nervous if they had to rely on the shuttle for emergency evacuation. Even when it's not grounded (and not killing its crew), the shuttle fleet doesn't visit the station that often. Good thing somebody thought to supply the ISS with a stash of Soyuz capsules [wikipedia.org] for emergencies.

  • Looking at the website it looks like the ISS is 8.5 years old. While may not seem that long ago, to put it into perspective, 400mhz CPU where the thing back then. Look at how much has changed in that time period. Perhaps it's time for a system update. (not trolling being serious)

    Think of it this way, if you where in the hospital on life support would you want the latest tech or something that powers a cell phone now adays?

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      The cell phone CPU please.

      Processor speed is irrelevant to whether or not a device is reliable, but having an older device suggests that the bugs
      are more likely to be fixed or at least known by the staff. CPUs don't really wear out anyway.

    • No (Score:5, Insightful)

      by geekoid (135745) <dadinportlandNO@SPAMyahoo.com> on Friday June 15 2007, @03:38PM (#19524331) Homepage Journal
      If you have a critical system that does everything you need and runs fine, never update it.

      • But it "didnt run fine" so now would be a good time to update :) Agree had nothing gone wrong it's best to leave working alone.
        • When is "now" then? They first need to send up the hardware upgrades. If these computers would stay failed, they won't have time to even schedule, prepare, and send a shuttle up for it, much less install the stuff. The Shuttle need to leave in a few days due to fuel constraints, regardless of their status up there. This is absolutely not a situation where NASA and Russia have free hands to do such far encompassing goals in case the current hardware would remain busted. *Maybe* if they would get this sorted

    • Think of it this way, if you where in the hospital on life support would you want the latest tech or something that powers a cell phone now adays?

      ???

      I'd take something that powers a cellphone myself. As would many doctors and technicians. Sometimes thorough testing and reliability are more important than cutting edge features and performance.

      IBM AP-101 [nasa.gov] for the win!

    • Think of it this way, if you where in the hospital on life support would you want the latest tech or something that powers a cell phone now adays?

      the cell phone thanks. new things always have bugs.

      also, for in-space use, they need to modify the chip to be radiation hardened, which takes awhile, along with further testing, etc. etc.

  • This is what happens when these ungodly Hollywood types with hyperactive imagination give ideas to our enemies. Why did they show that one way you could sabotage the spacecraft of an alien race would be by uploading a virus and crippling the computer systems? Now see what happened once the Klingons got the picture, so to speak. They are using the techniques developed by us against us.

  • Over-voltage causes computer failure at ISS Russia (Score:5, Informative)

    by simos (84652) on Friday June 15 2007, @03:38PM (#19524325) Homepage
    MOSCOW, June 15 (Itar-Tass) -- A fivefold over-voltage resultant from the unfolding of extra U.S. solar batteries caused a computer failure at the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS), a source at the Energia Aerospace Corporation told Itar-Tass on Friday.

    "The power units of six computers of the Russian segment had a breakdown because of the over-voltage. The American partners unfolded new solar batteries on June 11," the source said.

    The German-made computers withstood the 2.5-time over-voltage last September, when the first segments of solar batteries were unfolded. The June 11 over-voltage hit the computers hard, he said.

    While experts are trying to reanimate the computers, new power units will be delivered to the ISS onboard a Progress freighter, Energia General Director Nikolai Sevastyanov told a Friday press conference. He said the new power units would be better protected.

    The Progress will be launched two weeks earlier than planned because of the ISS situation. Initially, the launch was scheduled for August 6. The U.S. segment of the ISS will provide for the station's orientation in the meantime, and engines of the docked Progress will be used if necessary.

    The ISS crew evacuation is not on the agenda, although a relevant plan has been drafted. Some of the computers of the Russian segment are still operational.

    Source: http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=11 633186&PageNum=0 [itar-tass.com]
    • Nice attemp at a cover up. We all know the computers were really confiscated by the RIAA for filesharing.
    • So basically they fried the power supplies on a bunch of computers. Doesn't matter how 'clean' the voltage is, if there's simply more than the power supplies can take. Sounds like they're hosed unless they can install the software on other hardware and get it working.

      Don't these folks have UPS or surge protectors? :-)
      • Wow.

        Single-point-of-failure, anyone?

        I wonder why they didn't all die, though.

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by EvilMagnus (32878)
          I suspect they had six machines on the same circuit (probably all in one of the Russian modules). One or more of those machines controlled the thrusters. They all got fried. The Russian control software probably works fine on any one of those six Russian computers ... all of which got fried. ;-)

          They didn't all die because there's very few disasters on the ISS that would produce near-instantaneous calamity. This particular one means no thrusters, which isn't usually a problem ( gyros work for minor correctio
    • Troubleshooting can be pretty difficult to do, and problems can be expected to occur on every system, but what's important is that you are permitted to fix the problem.

      Car analogy. What if one day you got a flat, but the manufacturer had placed DRM locknuts in order to keep the tire on, which essentialy prevented you from fixing the tire yourself, without taking it back to the original dealer.

      In that case, would you be content to listen to him blame how poor the roads are, or would you make sure the n
    • Even *I* have a surge-suppressor on my expensive electronics at home...

      This is a massive oversight. First, (I suppose) the Russians didn't have any sort of surge protection on their critical systems. Second, the NASA engineers didn't do their research and understand what effect plugging more power into the station would have. (It's Tool Time with Tim Allen...)

      This seems like a really amateur mistake.

  • This is old news - Status update (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 15 2007, @03:43PM (#19524419)
    This is still a dynamic situation. Moscow only has line-of-sight communications with the ISS, so their interaction with the on-board computer system is limited to certain time windows. Over the last few days, the ISS computers have been going flaky, on and off. Since this article was written, they've completely died. However, as of a few minutes ago, they have successfully booted 2 out of 3 lanes in the terminal system, which is way more progress than they've been making previously. Just prior, they disconnected a power cable which extends to where the next solar panel array will be installed. This may have been the source of the problem, as the computers started acting up right around the time the cable was initially connected. If you're more interested in up-to-date information regarding the situation, don't turn to CBS. Try www.spaceflightnow.com (realtime updates).
  • Did it have anything to do with this woman hacking them with a baby monitor ;)

    http://digg.com/offbeat_news/Baby_Monitor_Monitors _International_Space_Station_Rather_Than_Baby [digg.com]
  • Watch, as all your tax dollars go down the drain.

    Assuming the computers cannot be restarted in a day or two, the shuttle and station crew will have to depart. Without those computers, the station will be put in an ever increasing spin due to tidal forces. Once the shuttle leaves, it will never be able to dock with the station again.

    Eventually, the orbit will decay and cause the station to enter an uncontrolled reentry. By uncontrolled I mean hundreds of tons of flaming white hot metal could end up
  • don't Russian computers run on metric electricity?

  • Why not an American computer? (Score:3, Funny)

    by the_rajah (749499) on Friday June 15 2007, @04:16PM (#19524865) Homepage
    This was the question that was asked on a locally hosted talk radio show yesterday. I called in and explained that if it was an American computer, it would probably be running Windows. I asked if they had heard of the "Blue Screen of Death", which they had. I explained that deploying Windows in a life-support function would give new meaning to the term. Then the host, intelligent guy that he is, said, "But they could use a Mac". I said, "Or, better yet Linux".

  • Closer to solved? (Score:4, Informative)

    by Boilermaker84 (896573) on Friday June 15 2007, @05:10PM (#19525633)
    Spaceflightnow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts117/0706 14computers/index7.html [spaceflightnow.com]) is reporting that bypassing a suspect power supply (does not indicate what the power supply is/if it's related to the new panels or not) resulted in 4 of the 6 computers coming back up and restoration of 2 of the 3 guidance lanes.
    • It was NOT informative at all. It's not even remotely true.

      Get a clue before moderating.

      • Eh...it must be mods-on-crack day for this thread. Someone marked an almost obligatory quote from Armageddon as redundant.
      • Now THAT'S funny. I have no idea what's up with the mods lately, but they've been acting incredibly random at times.

        I should probably keep that in mind for now. I was looking at your post and trying to figure out exactly which Lexington you were talking about. The last USS Lexington I'm aware of was an old Essex-class WWII carrier that was decommissioned in 1991. (Named in honor of the first operational carrier in the US Fleet; valiantly lost in the Battle of the Coral Sea.) Given the age of the carrier, I
        • I suspect they meant the USS Yorktown [wikipedia.org].
          • Hopefully he did not mean the USS Yamato (NCC-71807).

            Now THAT ship had computer issues...

          • Brain fart, mea culpa.

            Corrections always appreciated -- I make enough mistakes that Shannon's Theorem indicates a serious need for error correction.

          • That was my first thought as well, but in that case it would have been "Funny" not "Informative". Unless the mods really believe that the ISS uses Windows for its critical systems. (And before anyone posts links, the astronauts' laptops are independent of the ISS's navigational computers. According to the various articles on this incident, the navcomps run Russian-made software.)
        • I've seen the lamest stuff moderated "informative". But this is a new low: an obvious joke taken as informational.

          Keep in mind that karma points for "funny" no longer count toward the overall score. Mods who want to show the poster some appreciation by giving them countable points will mod it up another way.
          • So instead of being stupid, they're gaming the system? Oh, now I feel much better...

        • I said as much to CmdrTaco in an email exchange. His answer: people need to metamoderate more.

          Do you even have a meta-moderation link? Mine disappeared with the emergence of the firehose feature.

        • But this is a new low: an obvious joke taken as informational.
          You've apparently not noticed that sometimes giving an "Informative", "Insightful", or "Interesting" mod to an "obvious joke" can be "obviously" intended to enhance the humor-value of the joke, and/or to be a joke in its own right.
    • Sure, but it's a little more effort to go down to the local Fry's for a new memory stick when you're orbiting 200 miles above the Earth.

      • Sure, but it's a little more effort to go down to the local Fry's for a new memory stick when you're orbiting 200 miles above the Earth.

        Every system I've worked on required redundancy for precisely that reason. And that's the real lesson to be learned from this incident. It's not about computers, or software, or even solar panels, it is about compromising the neccessary quality & efficiency, for outdated political & proprietary reasons.
    • unless you are Moscow ground control, then "Houston, we have a problem".

      Shouldn't that be "Moscow, we have a problemski."?

      • Funny (Score:5, Funny)

        by Nymz (905908) on Friday June 15 2007, @04:45PM (#19525219) Journal

        unless you are Moscow ground control, then "Houston, we have a problem".

        Shouldn't that be "Moscow, we have a problemski."?
        Another good one I've seen around - In Soviet Russia, YOU stablize gyroscopes.

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