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Astronauts Open ISS Station Room

Posted by kdawson on Sat Oct 27, 2007 07:29 PM
from the now-to-hang-curtains dept.
NASA Space
mikesd81 notes an ABC News report that astronauts aboard the ISS have opened the new station room. Commander Peggy Whitson and astronaut Paolo Nespoli delayed their lunch so the event could happen before the station's orbit temporarily blocked the ability to send a video downlink to Mission Control. From the article: "Nespoli... joined Discovery's crew to personally deliver the Italian-made pressurized chamber... Astronauts added the school bus-sized room called Harmony during a 6.5-hour spacewalk Friday, using a robotic arm to lift it from the shuttle's cargo bay and install it on the station. The compartment will serve as the docking port and nerve center for European and Japanese laboratories that will be delivered on the next three shuttle flights. It also will be a power and thermal distribution center, providing air, electricity, water and other systems for the space station. Racks of computer and electronic equipment are already inside the cylinder, which will double as a living space for the crew... The astronauts will have to undo more than 700 bolts [which held down the equipment during flight] to free up the equipment."
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Submission: Astronauts Prepare to Open Station Room by mikesd81 (518581)
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  • A whole lot of bolts... (Score:4, Funny)

    by creimer (824291) on Saturday October 27 2007, @07:36PM (#21144189) Homepage
    With 700 extra bolts, I'm sure someone will find them useful [penny-arcade.com] in space.
    • Well at least they have relevant experience for the task. I wonder if any of the crew served on that mission a few years back, studying the effects of weightlessness on tiny screws [snpp.com].

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by stoolpigeon (454276) *
        Ratchet has to collect bolts. He has insufficient bolts and then begins to eye Clank. It's basically the old idea of two people marooned on an island or lost in the desert and the other person starts to look like food or drink. Although in this case, Clank really would contain what Ratchet needs. I've never played the game - so sorry if I'm wrong. But combined with the post here- I think I've got it right.

  • Lift? (Score:1, Interesting)

    by MOBE2001 (263700)
    Astronauts added the school bus-sized room called Harmony during a 6.5-hour spacewalk Friday, using a robotic arm to lift it from the shuttle's cargo bay and install it on the station.

    Uh... I don't think anything was "lifted". In zero G, there is no up and down, AFAIK.

    • Re:Lift? (Score:5, Informative)

      by falcon5768 (629591) <Falcon5768.comcast@net> on Saturday October 27 2007, @07:58PM (#21144301) Journal
      except they are not at zero G they are in microgravity.
      • except they are not at zero G they are in microgravity.

        Very little difference, IMO.

        • Re:Lift? (Score:4, Informative)

          by RedWizzard (192002) on Saturday October 27 2007, @08:16PM (#21144383)

          except they are not at zero G they are in microgravity.

          Very little difference, IMO.

          I guess you'd describe a plane in freefall as having no up and no down either then. The Earth's gravity is only about 10% weaker on the ISS than it is on the surface.

            • I guess you'd describe a plane in freefall as having no up and no down either then. The Earth's gravity is only about 10% weaker on the ISS than it is on the surface. I am not sure what your point is but that is not what microgravity means, IMO.

              You claimed there is no up or down on the ISS because it is in "zero gravity". My point is that the weightlessness felt by people on the ISS is because it is in constant freefall, not because it doesn't feel the Earth's gravity. If you concede that a plane in freefall still has an up and a down then you must concede that the ISS does too.

              • A few things here. First, when a plane is in free fall, it doesn't have a natural up as determined by acceleration at that point. If you spun someone around, blindfolded, they probably wouldn't be able to recall which way "ground" used to be (unless they have a good sense of direction). There's no acceleration cues (well aside from jostling and imperceptible gravity gradients). Second, immediately before and after this period of freefall is a period of high G acceleration where down is clear. finally, they

                • In summary, anything in freefall whether it be a plane or a satellite, does not have a natural "up" as determined by acceleration.

                  Who said anything about "up" being determined by acceleration? Spin a blindfolded person around and they probably wouldn't be able to recall which way north is either, but that doesn't mean that north doesn't exist when you're not holding a compass. Astronauts on the ISS probably define "up" in terms of the orientation of the ISS. That is a perfectly valid definition for "up" - it doesn't matter at all that they can't instinctively feel which way "up" is.

        • That's in your opinion, as you said. Up and down is in the opinion of those "lifting", and in this article their opinion counts, not yours.
        • Up, in the normal human reference frame, is away from the most powerful source of gravity detectable. Seeing as how the ISS isn't far enough away to be in true microgravity (less than 50% difference) there's very little ground to stand upon if you're claiming there's no detectable source of gravity nearby, about as much as claiming that there's no Up in an elevator. Just thought I'd point that out, physics does allow you to have an opinion about up and down, but common sense doesn't and in this case common

      • Re:Lift? (Score:4, Informative)

        by rubycodez (864176) on Saturday October 27 2007, @08:15PM (#21144371)
        and they're at almost 1 g, force of gravity is just about as strong where the ISS is as it is on the surface of the earth. they're just falling around the earth is all.
        • While the fact that they still in Earth's gravity well is pertinent to the "up and down in space" discussion, is it correct to say that they are in almost 1G? This is an honest question as my understanding of Physics is all self taught. As I understand things, there is no observable difference between being in Zero G and perpetually falling, at least from the perspective of the astronauts.

          • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

            by rubycodez (864176)
            that would be true in a uniform gravitational field, but around a planet there's a gradient to the acceleration due to gravity and thus a net small acceleration on object (we're back to microgravity)
            • How much as a percentage of the normal force of gravity as felt by those of us on the surface of the earth.

              0.0001% or less?
                • ignore the small effect / tidal forces??!! that's the whole point, they're there and that's why a person *can* distinguish being on planet earth (g field from a nearly-pointlike center of mass, radial vectors) from being in an elevator (g field of perpendicular vectors) at 1g, and why there is distinguishing being weightless and being in microgravity!
          • sorry but the ISS is gyrodine stabilized to keep desired rather than natural orientation
            • There's nothing to be sorry about here. Gyroscope stabilized orientation is the natural orientation. I didn't make it clear in my original post.

      • Two things. First, zero G just means that the local acceleration is negligiable. A microgravity environment is a special case of a zero G environment where the allowed accelerations can be measured in micro G's. Zero G doesn't mean precisely zero acceleration. Second, zero G does not mean zero gravitational field. Even if we ignore the Earth's gravitational field, anything in orbit would experience gravitation fields from the Sun, Moon, and any other object visible in the universe. If my calculations are co

        • You could also count the local acceleration due to the mass of the ISS itself. That is not completely zero either, especially when NASA and its "partners" keep adding additional mass in the form of new modules.

          Certainly it is something that would be important to take into consideration if you are trying to do some calculations for very low gravity research, such as metallurgy and other similar activities. Of course, this is but another reason why some consider the ISS platform to be a horrible way to do m
    • "Uh... I don't think anything was "lifted". In zero G, there is no up and down, AFAIK."

      Up and down are relative terms. On Earth, for example, down to us is a straight line from the point of the sphere we're standing on to the Earth's core. If you're on a space shuttle in 'zero G', you still think of the floor of the shuttle as 'down'. When the doors on top open and the cargo is removed, it goes 'up' to exit.

      The reason the phrase "there's no down in space" came about is that there isn't the pull of gravit

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by SuperBanana (662181)

      Uh... I don't think anything was "lifted". In zero G, there is no up and down, AFAIK.

      Since you're being a nitpick: they're not in "zero g", they're in orbit. There is a difference. One means there are no (or, in practical terms, very little) gravitational forces acting on you; the other means you're hurtling through space fast enough that you counteract gravitational forces trying to pull you down to the planet.

        • Zero G and free fall are equivalent from the point of view of the object,

          It doesn't matter. They're still two different things...zero g means NO gravity.

        • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

          by Anonymous Coward
          Was than an obscure Ender's Game reference?

          No, it is perhaps the most well known of all Ender's Game references.

  • Mama Mia! (Score:5, Funny)

    by dangitman (862676) on Saturday October 27 2007, @08:36PM (#21144485)

    Nespoli... joined Discovery's crew to personally deliver the Italian-made pressurized chamber... Astronauts added the school bus-sized room

    That's a big pressure cooker! Now they just have to find enough ravioli to fill it.

  • If I read the headline right:

    Astronauts Open ISS Station Room

    Then they just opened the International Space Stationn Station Room, yes?

    I don't usually play grammar police, but this one was a bit too obvious...
  • 700 bolts...and of course, the ONE tool missing from the toolbox is the wrench they need.
    • That's nothing. When they do manage to jury rig a wrench they'll remove 699 bolts and the 700th one will be stuck!

  • Who gets to be first (Score:3, Funny)

    by SnarfQuest (469614) on Saturday October 27 2007, @11:37PM (#21145477)
    Astronauts added the school bus-sized room

    Who gets to be the first to moon the Earth?

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Airw0lf (795770)

      WTF are they using manual labor for everything ? just get explosive bolts and use charges to cut em lose. or electromagnets and cut the power to release equipment. 10 seconds and youre done.
      They may have issues with explosive bolts in oxygenated environments... As for electromagnets, I think you would need power to keep them going on the way up. The whole point of bolting the equipment would have been to prevent them from flying all over the place during launch/orbit.
      • Yeah, exploding bolts in space. That would be short lived fun.
      • The point of the bolts is to stiffen the structure against the several G's of launch and the vibrations as well. In low-G things don't need to be very strong but against the stresses of liftoff it needs stiffening or it would shake apart or collapse.

    • Re:700 bolts! (Score:5, Funny)

      by AuMatar (183847) on Saturday October 27 2007, @07:40PM (#21144213)
      Yes, because its a great idea to use explosives in a pressurized environment in the middle or space. And they can just plug electromagnets into the giant extension cord to Cape Canaveral. Idiot.

          • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

            by Plutonite (999141)
            And now the super funny moderator-sans-grey-matter mods me down. Lets see how long we can play this game, asshole. Parent has been modded up thankfully. I love slashdot.

    • Re:700 bolts! (Score:5, Informative)

      by ledow (319597) on Saturday October 27 2007, @07:46PM (#21144241) Homepage
      Yes, they could (although, personally, explosive bolts and electromagnetically-held ROOMS of equipment would not be on any spaceship I would ever fly on... just imagine the potential for going wrong!)

      But, it'll probably take a handful of man-hours and, to be honest, space agencies have trouble finding astronauts enough stuff to do to keep them busy anyway especially on "space stations" as opposed to shuttles, orbits, missions etc. Plus, you'd have to manually check everything at some point anyway - might as well be while you're "unpacking" your new space-station room (remember to keep the box it came in in case you have to send it back!).

      Plus, one bolt in the wrong place, coming loose or not coming off nicely and you're in deep trouble and hardly able to pop down the local DIY store to pick up a replacement.

      Astronaut missions are always rigourously scheduled and planned. You'll probably find these people have an actual list of every bolt to be taken off in what order with what tool and what to check before and after every one. Similarly, when "just" tightening a bolt, they would have data on torque, etc. which they would follow to the letter.

      • to be honest, space agencies have trouble finding astronauts enough stuff to do to keep them busy anyway

        Unfortunately, no. The ISS requires far too much hands-on maintenance.

        • not too much... (Score:5, Informative)

          by djupedal (584558) on Saturday October 27 2007, @09:35PM (#21144785)
          "Unfortunately, no. The ISS requires far too much hands-on maintenance."

          I happened to listen to live activity today. The pilot, a shuttle first-timer, kept asking if the stop-go incrementing counter on the fuel-cell monitoring software was awry - he wouldn't let it go, even after Houston told him they had spent enough time on what was obviously a non-issue and to move on. He kept making suggestions and they waited patiently as he chatted and rambled. It was clear they were giving into his first-time fever, just to placate him, but still, talk about a time-waster.

          In addition, being as the shuttle commander and ISS in-charge are both women, making for yet another space first (?), the two were so enamored with the idea, they miscalculated the time before the big public TV presentation of the new 'Harmony' module, thinking they didn't have time to spruce their hair for the cameras - Houston calmly told them no issue, the circulation fans had been adjusted from the ground to keep everything on schedule - plenty of time.

          The shuttle commandette told the ground-control guy "thanks for having our back on that one!" ...ground control was in control - not the nitrogen-breathing, image conscious, time wasting, hubris-fevered staff-monkeys in the air.

          So please, sell that 'too much hands-on maintenance' white-wash someplace else, thanks :)

          • Re:not too much... (Score:5, Informative)

            by Animats (122034) on Saturday October 27 2007, @10:23PM (#21145067) Homepage

            The current maintenance load for the ISS is about 2.5 people. [nap.edu] The Soyuz capsule used for emergency crew return limits the ISS population to 3, except when another spacecraft is docked. So most of the crew time is tied up just keeping the thing working. The original concept was to have a permanent crew of 6, maybe more, and a "crew return vehicle", but that was abandoned around 2002.

            • The science load has increased over the past few years (not just overall science, but the stuff the astronauts are doing directly). I suspect that they've managed to lower the construction and maintenance load a bit and have been able to redirect some of the excess time to science projects. So maybe they still need 2.5 people, but those 2.5 people don't need to work as much.

            • Re:not too much... (Score:5, Informative)

              by djupedal (584558) on Saturday October 27 2007, @11:01PM (#21145303)
              "...most of the crew time is tied up just keeping the thing working. "

              From your link: "NASA is currently studying this issue, and few details are available at this time." ...making your statement an assumption based on predictions - aka anecdotal, versus recorded/live dialog that occurred today.

              In addition, I'm chagrined you insist on ignoring the role of ground crews and autonomous systems (Soyuz's ability to dock without manual control from the ground or the ISS). You seem to have this Machiavellian bent that puts responsibility for the entire ISS operation on airborne crews. Yeah...that's a sober position.

              Need more? How about a log from Monday, 20 November 2006 (Day 324):

                • 14:30-15:34 - ESA astronaut and ISS Flight Engineer no. 2 Thomas Reiter, together with his two colleagues, American astronaut and ISS Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Russian cosmonaut and ISS Flight Engineer no. 1 Mikhail Tyurin, will be woken up at 14:30. This time will be dedicated to the Station inspection, the morning toilet and breakfast.

                • 15:34-15:49 - Reiter will carry out a radio contact with the AMATEUR RADIO ON ISS (ARISS) equipment. ARISS, is an international working group of volunteering amateur radio operators specialised in satellite telecommunications, aimed at building, developing and maintaining the amateur radio activity, using the radio station on board the ISS. During this session the ESA astronaut will execute a live radio contact with the winning classes of the ESA/DLR competition "Ich will's wISSen" at the Landesmuseum für Technik und Arbeit in Mannheim, Germany.

                • 15:49-16:15 - Thomas Reiter will have this time to complete his morning post-sleep activities.

                • 16:15-19:30 - Following an unallocated period of time, Reiter will exercise for a period of 90 minutes on the Resistive Exercise Device (RED), which is located in the 'ceiling' of Node 1. The exercise equipment is made up of resistance chords, which allow crew members to exercise and tone various muscles in the legs and in the upper body. The resistance can be set in increments of 2.3 kg up to a maximum of the force equivalent to lifting on Earth a mass of 195 kg.

                • 19:30-21:30 - The ISS crew will participate in a two-hour review with specialists on the ground to discuss issues related to the on-board timeline of upcoming activities.

                • 21:30-22:30 - The Expedition 14 crew will meet in the Russian Zvezda module for a one-hour midday meal.

                • 22:30-23:30 - Reiter will install a remote sensing unit, which has a small transmitter antenna to radio measurements to a Space Station laptop computer for recording on a PMCIA card to be downlinked later to the ground. The remote sensing unit forms part of the internal wireless instrumentation system (IWIS), which records structural dynamics of the station. The IWIS utilizes sets of accelerometers and strain gauges, which are supported by a network control unit and their own remote sensing units.

                • 23:30-00:10 - Following a period of unallocated time, Reiter and his ISS colleagues will participate in a 20-minute conference with ISS programme managers on the ground.

                • 00:10-00:40 - Thomas Reiter will perform 30 minutes of routine maintenance on the Russian Zvezda life support system.

                • 00:40-02:45 - Following a period of unallocated time, Reiter will perform 60 minutes of physical exercise on the Treadmill with Vibration Isolation System (TVIS). This equipment is located in the floor of the Russian Zvezda module close to the galley table. The crew member is held down by a shoulder harness, and the complete system is suspended to

            • Re:not too much... (Score:4, Informative)

              by Bishop923 (109840) on Saturday October 27 2007, @11:19PM (#21145375)
              The station will have 6 crewmembers in 2009, after most of the lab modules have been installed.

              http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/iss_manifest.html [nasa.gov]

              Kinda pointless to have more than 3 people up there if they don't have a place to work.
            • he's the one with the valid criticisms, even if they are ultimately wrong.

              You're the crazy dude talking about things more disgusting than I'd even imagine... and I can imagine a lot.

              Why do we even have a manned space program? Imagine how much more we'd know if all that budget went to the unmanned programs that actually discover things on other planets.

              Anyway, you're the loon with the anger problem. Might want to check that out.
    • Explosive bolts indoors in zero G don't seem like the best of ideas. Loose objects are enough of a PITA in orbit as it is.

      Electromagnets require power. I would imagine during launch they want to have as little powered as possible in case things go wrong. They would also need to consider what would happen if the power supply to the electromagnets failed.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by p0tat03 (985078)
      Beyond the obvious safety and power issues mentioned by other posters, may I mention that, as a general rule of thumb in engineering, the more complex your device/system, the more likely it is to break? And my own corollary to that: and the worse it will be when it DOES break.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Mr. Freeman (933986)
      Electromagnets aren't at all a plausible solution because they would have to be powered on while in flight to the station. The explosive bolts are a HUGE safety risk. We're talking 700 explosions in extremely close proximity to computer equipment, doesn't take a scientist to figure out that's not a good idea. When you add the fact that you're in an enclosed space and furthermore that you're orbiting the earth, mentioning the idea of explosive bolts would probably get you fired had you been on the design
    • Yes, because learning how to live and work in space has no importance whatsoever.

      (that was sarcasm btw)

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by damburger (981828)
      Like the shuttle, the problem isn't the project itself, its the lack of imagination in using it. The ISS could be a launchpad for manned missions to the planets. If you want to assemble a interplanetary craft in space, a long-term human habitat could house your construction crew whilst the bits are being sent up. This eliminates the need to rush them all up over a week or so.
      • I would generally agree with this sentiment, however it would have been nice had the ISS been equipped with something like a "space drydock" facility or something similar.

        For crying out loud, there is a real need to do in orbit repairs on the Space Shuttle, and the ISS would be an ideal way to test out such repair techniques rather than some sort of ad hoc patch job that is the current method.

        Of course Skylab had nearly as much working space and volume as the current ISS configuration has right now... even

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