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Maybe someone who knows more about the ISS than I do can answer this: Naively, I would assume that there are airlocks between the different sections of the ISS
by gwbas1c 4mo ago
Maybe someone who knows more about the ISS than I do can answer this:
Naively, I would assume that there are airlocks between the different sections of the ISS. I would also assume that they would close these airlocks while doing the kind of work they are doing to repair the leaks.
So, assuming I'm right (and my assumptions might be wrong,) why do the astronauts need to shelter?
- bmelton 4mo agoWell, I won't claim to know the answer, but "please do not move between different airlocked sections while this work is underway" sounds a lot like the definition of "shelter" to me
- gpm 4mo agoIn this case, per the article, "shelter" meant "shelter in a capsule capable of returning to earth and put on the spacesuits that you wear during return to earth". I.e. leaving the actual ISS structure entirely.
- bmelton 4mo agoI would guess they're worried about breaking something, but thanks for the clarification (and apologies for not having RTFA)
- lazide 4mo agoRepairing a leak with an uncertain cause could be at high risk of catastrophic decompression if it was caused by certain types of corrosion or stress.
- himata4113 4mo agoCompression loss can lead to a decompression of sorts if I had to guess... it is a vaccum out there. The force from a decompression can yield a chain reaction or strongly disrupt the entire station.
- ocdtrekkie 4mo agoI think the service module is both structurally and functionally critical. If it is failing and you do not know why, catastrophic failure is presumably possible, not just some air loss. A hole or crack in the module is now apparently double the size it was until recently, that is a trend that presumably could continue to rapid unscheduled disassembly.
- throw2ih020 4mo ago> Naively, I would assume that there are airlocks between the different sections of the ISS. There are not. The airlocks on the ISS are either docking modules for spacecraft, for spacewalks, or for deploying satellites. The crew shelters in the vehicles so that in case of an emergency they can evacuate immediately.
- MrPouig 4mo agoIf things go wrong, they're already in the vehicle supposed to bring them back. It might be upsetting to be 3 locked doors away from your best way to come back home
- bArray 4mo agoThis is the right answer - if it goes wrong they are already placed in the escape vehicle, sitting in their space suits.
- deleted 4mo ago[deleted]
- ActorNightly 4mo ago[flagged]
- andruby 4mo agoNot for crew carrying craft.
- GolfPopper 4mo agoIs there any rocket-builder without a history of blowing things up?
- rvnx 4mo agoObviously not. Blowing things up is the reason for rocketry to exist and its historical basis. A fun fact about SpaceX: Remember our esteemed national American hero, and spiritual father of SpaceX, Wernher von Braun. Wernher wrote a book about Mars referring to "The Elon", an imaginary Mars governing body. The father of Elon Musk claimed that Elon's name came from there. Well at least, that's what he claims. Reality doesn't matter if you have billions and power. History can be rewritten.
- deleted 4mo ago[deleted]
- Polizeiposaune 4mo agoThere are normally-open air-tight hatches between modules. Various utility connections and air ducts are normally run through the open hatches so it would take a bit of work to disconnect these connections before they could be closed. Not exactly something you want to be doing under time pressure.
- basch 4mo agoWhat’s the reason against separate conduit for utilities?
- deleted 4mo ago[deleted]
- NegativeLatency 4mo agoJust a guess: Harder to build and operate with more failure modes and less opportunity for intervention.
- nkrisc 4mo agoThose would need to be connected during docking and sealed separately anyway if you wanted to seal the hatch. More failure points.
- gpm 4mo agoYou'd still need to pull out the utilities and close a now second hatch in the conduit to seal the thing. What would be the point?
- Zigurd 4mo agoIf such a conduit would connect two sections that the hatch is meant to isolate, you would have to make the conduit and everything running through it airtight, even under a catastrophic loss of air. If the conduit didn't seal as well as the hatch, which is meant to withstand hard vacuum on the other side of it, it would defeat the purpose of the hatch.
- 4mo ago
- ianburrell 4mo agoThere aren’t even doors between sections. Airlocks are serious things, there is one or two for station for EVA. There are multiple hatches for docking spacecraft. One of the innovations of ISS is larger docking adapter with bulkhead that is removed after docking. Russian section still uses hatches. All of the cables go through the docking adapter or hatch which makes impossible to close door or quickly disconnect.
- jamesmontalvo3 4mo agoThere are doors (called hatches) between the segments. Each segment flew up separately and pressurized. So there are actually two hatches between each segment, since there’s one on each.
- deleted 4mo ago[deleted]
- root-parent 4mo ago[dead]