Russian astronauts begin work to seal 2nd Zvezda leak on ISS
After successfully sealing the largest crack on the twenty-year-old Zvezda module on ISS, Russian astronauts have now begun work on sealing a second such crack.
The report, from Russia’s state-run news service TASS, is not very informative. It does not report the size of the leaks, their nature, and any other important conclusions the Russians have gathered about Zvezda’s overall condition and future, based on these cracks.
Nor has state-run NASA been very transparent on this subject, releasing little further information. The silence from these government entities about the cracks is very worrisome, as it suggests these fixes are merely bandaids on a more serious issue with Zvezda’s structure, and our dishonest and bureaucratic governments do not wish to reveal this fact to the public.
I hope I am wrong, but suspect I am not. If Russia follows its pattern for the past half century, they will provide a more detailed report only after the problem has been completely solved. If these patches are merely temporary fixes over a more serious problem, don’t expect that detailed report for some time.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
After successfully sealing the largest crack on the twenty-year-old Zvezda module on ISS, Russian astronauts have now begun work on sealing a second such crack.
The report, from Russia’s state-run news service TASS, is not very informative. It does not report the size of the leaks, their nature, and any other important conclusions the Russians have gathered about Zvezda’s overall condition and future, based on these cracks.
Nor has state-run NASA been very transparent on this subject, releasing little further information. The silence from these government entities about the cracks is very worrisome, as it suggests these fixes are merely bandaids on a more serious issue with Zvezda’s structure, and our dishonest and bureaucratic governments do not wish to reveal this fact to the public.
I hope I am wrong, but suspect I am not. If Russia follows its pattern for the past half century, they will provide a more detailed report only after the problem has been completely solved. If these patches are merely temporary fixes over a more serious problem, don’t expect that detailed report for some time.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Now, here is where inflatables and soft robotics can come into play: a more rugged version of the Beam module has two docking ports on either end-station side screwed in-the far docking side has straps that flow over the module to windlasses. A flexing bumper dock.
Jeff,
With your “flexing bumper dock” made me think of something else about the dockings to Zvezda. Yes there has been about a 100 dockings to the aft port of Zvezda. 36 of them have been Progress and 5 of them have been ESA’s ATV, which have been used to boost the orbit of the ISS. I wonder how much stress is put on that port when a boost is going on?
I don’t think it is the boost that does the damage. Now if you have ever watched Ice Road Truckers-you know what can happen when cold soaked steel gets a good lick. Now imagine I have a manhole on the bow of a ship afloat on the water-and a swing a medicine ball at it at below Antarctic temps. A medicine ball is used by cranes and such to knock walls down. Hold one…oh, about five feet out from the bow-and let it swing? That’s about what a Soyuz hit is like. It may be ‘weightless’ but that 7 ton mass is still there. In ASTP the Soyuz got the worst of it with Apollo massing out to nearly their TKS ferry. They put tires on tugboats for a reason. We lost a lot of the Soviet sub during Azorian because the claw that the Glomar used was aerospace grade, not marine grade for toughness. Another reason to love Truax.
Jeff,
I fully understand what you are talking about. I was just wondering about the force and/or vibration from a Progress spacecraft firing off it’s engines. The thing I do not know is when the Progress is boosting the station, is it constant for a duration or is it multiple short bursts?
Believe it or not I have heard a lot of stories about the Glomar Explorer. When I did work on an oil vessel, I worked with a guy who was part of that project. Over many beers at dinner he would tell us stories about it.
Thanks,