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> By the time the station was finally abandoned in 2000, its degeneration into a disgusting orbital stinkbomb had become an open secret. In one particularly egr

> By the time the station was finally abandoned in 2000, its degeneration into a disgusting orbital stinkbomb had become an open secret. In one particularly egregious incident in 1998, American astronauts discovered that dirty water globules—some of which were roughly the size of basketballs—were casually free-floating behind some of the station’s service panels. These gross liquid orbs, which were alternately brownish or cloudy white in color, had become miniature planets of activity for the opportunistic microbes that were attempting to commandeer Mir. So, how does the ISS compare on the hygiene front? They did show some mold, but didn't really talk about it. If it's cleaner, what did the ISS do right and Mir do wrong?

maxxxxx 11y ago
Mundane looking stuff like this is probably the real challenge with long term missions like a Mars mission.
trhway 11y ago
>and Mir do wrong? one of the main factors that affected Mir was that USSR and its economy had disintegrated and during the 199x Russian space agency (and related government R&D institutions and factories) employees were having even their small salaries delayed for months (so the ones who hadn't by the time left the industry for better pastures, had to do side employment/business just to survive), the hardware production on many military/space-industrial-complex factories stopped and whatever stockpile of parts available was sold into the others, non-space markets, like for scrap or precious metals. It came to the point that some parts delivered to Mir in the end of 199x were actually bought at a flea market.
frik 11y ago
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2007/11may_locad3/ http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2007/11... scroll down a bit, a picture description read like this: Fungi on the ISS, growing on a panel where exercise clothes were hung to dry. "This is a good example of how biological contamination isn't an old problem or just specific to Mir," points out Mark Ott.
- gherkin0 11y ago
  That's actually the mold I was referring to, but they don't really say much about the ISS besides that. Almost all of that article is about Mir.
smegel 11y ago
> American astronauts discovered that dirty water globules—some of which were roughly the size of basketballs—were casually free-floating behind some of the station’s service panels. These gross liquid orbs, which were alternately brownish or cloudy white in color I was just putting my morning cup of coffee (Australia, 8.30AM) to my lips when I read that, luckily I managed to control my gag reaction and avert spilling it everywhere.
simcop2387 11y ago
I'd imagine one of the reasons that this happened is because of condensation behind the panels and a lack of knowledge on how to keep things clean when you're unable to ever exchange air with somewhere. Thoughts on what they'd do to fix this in the ISS (all unconfirmed): 1. Service panels would be painted or coated with something to discourage or prevent condensation on the surface, thus preventing water build up. 2. Knowledge and use of cleaning supplies that won't leave a toxic atmosphere, thus allowing you to keep the microbial build up down. You can't use bleach or ammonia in a space station without killing people eventually. 3. More routine maintenance to catch these kinds of things. From what little I know MIR became less and less well maintained as it aged because of issues like you described. Avoiding that maintenance and cleaning would encourage the build up further accelerating the problem. Since the ISS has been in constant use and expansion I've got to imagine that they've managed to solve the first two and just as a natural consequence the third must happen in order to keep the station functional for the crew. Might be a good set of questions to keep in mind the next time Chris Hadfield or another astronaut does an AMA on reddit.

maxxxxx 11y ago

Mundane looking stuff like this is probably the real challenge with long term missions like a Mars mission.

trhway 11y ago

>and Mir do wrong? one of the main factors that affected Mir was that USSR and its economy had disintegrated and during the 199x Russian space agency (and related government R&D institutions and factories) employees were having even their small salaries delayed for months (so the ones who hadn't by the time left the industry for better pastures, had to do side employment/business just to survive), the hardware production on many military/space-industrial-complex factories stopped and whatever stockpile of parts available was sold into the others, non-space markets, like for scrap or precious metals. It came to the point that some parts delivered to Mir in the end of 199x were actually bought at a flea market.

frik 11y ago

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2007/11may_locad3/ http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2007/11... scroll down a bit, a picture description read like this: Fungi on the ISS, growing on a panel where exercise clothes were hung to dry. "This is a good example of how biological contamination isn't an old problem or just specific to Mir," points out Mark Ott.

gherkin0 11y ago
That's actually the mold I was referring to, but they don't really say much about the ISS besides that. Almost all of that article is about Mir.

smegel 11y ago

> American astronauts discovered that dirty water globules—some of which were roughly the size of basketballs—were casually free-floating behind some of the station’s service panels. These gross liquid orbs, which were alternately brownish or cloudy white in color I was just putting my morning cup of coffee (Australia, 8.30AM) to my lips when I read that, luckily I managed to control my gag reaction and avert spilling it everywhere.

simcop2387 11y ago

I'd imagine one of the reasons that this happened is because of condensation behind the panels and a lack of knowledge on how to keep things clean when you're unable to ever exchange air with somewhere. Thoughts on what they'd do to fix this in the ISS (all unconfirmed): 1. Service panels would be painted or coated with something to discourage or prevent condensation on the surface, thus preventing water build up. 2. Knowledge and use of cleaning supplies that won't leave a toxic atmosphere, thus allowing you to keep the microbial build up down. You can't use bleach or ammonia in a space station without killing people eventually. 3. More routine maintenance to catch these kinds of things. From what little I know MIR became less and less well maintained as it aged because of issues like you described. Avoiding that maintenance and cleaning would encourage the build up further accelerating the problem. Since the ISS has been in constant use and expansion I've got to imagine that they've managed to solve the first two and just as a natural consequence the third must happen in order to keep the station functional for the crew. Might be a good set of questions to keep in mind the next time Chris Hadfield or another astronaut does an AMA on reddit.