STS120, will be the 120th Shuttle flight |
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STS120, will be the 120th Shuttle flight |
 Oct 29 2007, 09:48 PM
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#31
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 Member  Group: Members Posts: 191 Joined: 20-November 06 From: Saint Louis Member No.: 1376  |
QUOTE (nprev @ Oct 29 2007, 04:40 PM)  Reuters now reporting that a preliminary onboard analysis revealed that the shavings are iron, not aluminum, implying that the joint mechanism itself was the source...not good. Might well be the motor-joint interface, hope it's not stripping out. Very true. They took a magnet to some of the filings they collected yesterday. Definitely not from the thermal shielding, which would have been preferable.  But it's still not clear what it's from. Once those samples get back to the ground they can identify the actual components they came from. Sample-return... a pretty good idea! 
-------------------- - Matt
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Oct 29 2007, 10:07 PM
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#32
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 Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8783 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
I'm still holding out hope that it's manufacturing residue--FOD (foreign object damage) in aerospace terminology--but not sure if that would be better; how in hell would you get it all out in micrograv & vacuum?
Guess strong magnets would be one way, but I can see them being quite problematic on a spacewalk. -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Oct 30 2007, 04:45 AM
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#33
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 Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
I'm betting the ultimate response is going to be to find a compromise position in which the SARJ will be parked and from which it will never thenceforth be moved. Yeah, it'll impact power budgets a little -- but the solar cells were always designed to give good margins for running more equipment than is now being planned. I don't think ISS will have rolling brownouts.
-the other Doug -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
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Oct 30 2007, 07:34 AM
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#34
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 540 Joined: 25-October 05 From: California Member No.: 535 |
QUOTE (dvandorn @ Oct 29 2007, 08:45 PM) I don't think ISS will have rolling brownouts. -the other Doug Wouldn't THOSE be "interesting" (RE: scary) moments for the crews onboard... -------------------- 2011 JPL Tweetup photos: http://www.rich-parno.com/aa_jpltweetup.html
http://human-spaceflight.blogspot.com |
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Oct 30 2007, 02:18 PM
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#35
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Member Group: Members Posts: 191 Joined: 20-November 06 From: Saint Louis Member No.: 1376 |
Initial inspection of the port (i.e. fully functional) SARJ showed no signs of contamination. So whatever is happening on the starboard side to create those metal "flakes" is definitely an anomaly.
Meanwhile, P6 relocation is complete. The radiator is deployed and soon they'll attempt to unfurl the arrays. -------------------- - Matt
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Oct 30 2007, 03:28 PM
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#36
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1582 Joined: 14-October 05 From: Vermont Member No.: 530 |
Yeah, the good news for this mission is that they'd at least planned to double up the arrays on the GOOD side.
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Oct 30 2007, 03:44 PM
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#37
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8783 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Hmm. Still wonder if they're FOD. Wonder if flight safety would ever sign off on sending somebody out there (tethered tightly, of course) with a compressed air canister to try to blow the damn things out & then see if the current load decreases; they might be getting stuck in the mechanism.
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Oct 30 2007, 04:28 PM
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#38
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14431 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
Looks like damage on the 4b array - one of the lines seems to have caught around one of the eyelets...and I don't think they could reach that on EVA where it is right now.
Doug
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Oct 30 2007, 04:35 PM
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#39
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Member Group: Members Posts: 191 Joined: 20-November 06 From: Saint Louis Member No.: 1376 |
Thanks for posting that screenshot, Doug. I was looking to do the same.
But wow... my heart skipped a beat when I heard Pam say "abort" and the view shifted to that tear. 
-------------------- - Matt
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Oct 30 2007, 04:48 PM
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#40
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14431 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
VERY cool customers on orbit - handling what could be quite a major issue like utter pro's. They've shot loads of photos at this angle, and they're not going to rotate the beta joint to get it from a slightly different angle.
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Oct 30 2007, 04:53 PM
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#41
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Member Group: Members Posts: 191 Joined: 20-November 06 From: Saint Louis Member No.: 1376 |
QUOTE (djellison @ Oct 30 2007, 11:48 AM) VERY cool customers on orbit - handling what could be quite a major issue like utter pro's. They've shot loads of photos at this angle, and they're not going to rotate the beta joint to get it from a slightly different angle. They absolutely are. If I were up there it would be a mixture of stunned silence and a barrage of choice four-letter words. -------------------- - Matt
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Oct 30 2007, 05:05 PM
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#42
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14431 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
They've backed it up half a bay - they're going for another half bay now.
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Oct 30 2007, 06:05 PM
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#43
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 The Poet Dude Group: Moderator Posts: 5551 Joined: 15-March 04 From: Kendal, Cumbria, UK Member No.: 60 |
... and from Nasaspaceflight.com...
At the same time, engineers on the ground are looking into indications that Discovery suffered a large MMOD (micrometeoroid/orbiting debris) strike to her port wing this morning. It is not known, but likely, that the strike was still not strong enough to cause any damage to the orbiter. A ripped solar panel and a meteoroid strike on the wing on the same day... guess that'll teach some people - mentioning no names, no-one here I hasten to add - to dismiss an uneventful, smooth shuttle launch as "almost boring", eh? 
-------------------- |
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Oct 30 2007, 06:14 PM
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#44
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8783 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Good grief.
Just what we didn't need right now. Sounds like the arm is gonna get another workout, on top of everything else they need to do...
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Oct 30 2007, 06:15 PM
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#45
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Member Group: Members Posts: 540 Joined: 25-October 05 From: California Member No.: 535 |
*Sigh* Good luck and anything solar power-related just hasn't been going hand-in-hand with the ISS...
-------------------- 2011 JPL Tweetup photos: http://www.rich-parno.com/aa_jpltweetup.html
http://human-spaceflight.blogspot.com |
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