6 ms·
Can't they just get things out of the module and paint it fresh? Maybe with some special paint, or with several layers of a paint? Obviously they can't, it loo
by ordu 4mo ago
Can't they just get things out of the module and paint it fresh? Maybe with some special paint, or with several layers of a paint?
Obviously they can't, it looks like an obvious solution they couldn't have missed. But I wonder why it is impossible to do.
- echoangle 4mo agoSome problems i can see with that: It might be hard to access the actual pressure hull from the inside (there's probably insulation and padding on top) If you use paint, you somehow have to get rid of the solvent in it when it dries, which might be a problem when painting a whole module
- Lalabadie 4mo agoAir filtration is one of the hardest things do deal with in space. I don't know what solvents would do, but I remember that astronauts' bone density loss in space means there are challenges around managing the significant amount of calcium captured by the air scrubbers in the ISS.
- PaulHoule 4mo agoWouldn't the calcium go out in your urine?
- schiffern 4mo agoYes. It was the urine processor that had problems with excess calcium, not the air scrubber. https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/f8ca865b-1d15-4689-841b-60d57d119016/content https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/f8ca865b-1...
- Lalabadie 4mo agoAppreciate the correction!
- kakacik 4mo agoDo they literally sweat their bones away? I can imagine how it would work on molecular level via sweat / breathing, but I would expect >99% to be simply pissed and shat away.
- Lalabadie 4mo agoEdit: My bad, with calcium it's the liquid filters that deal with it, not the air scrubbers. Quoting an ISS astronaut: Today's coffee is tomorrow's coffee.
- hgoel 4mo agoIf you mean on the outside, paints that apply well in vacuum and microgravity probably need to be developed and tested first. If you mean on the inside, it'd be a lot of time and disruption to devote to maintenance on a station that's already having to spend an increasing amount of time on maintenance instead of science. The modules have a lot of stuff that has been wired between them over the years, all that would need to be sorted out, consequences understood and more before ever starting the work, and by then it'll be time for the ISS to retire anyway.
- nomel 4mo ago> well in vacuum and microgravity probably Wouldn't all paint works well in microgravity? If it didn't, I would think you wouldn't be able to apply it to your floor, walls, and ceiling, with the same paint.
- alpinisme 4mo agoNot OP but I’d imagine the big problem with microgravity is not after application but during application. No idea the scale of that problem but obviously open cans of liquid paint are not realistic (not that anyone was suggesting they were)
- hgoel 4mo agoI think it's hard to say. Water sprayed at a ceiling doesn't congeal into a ball the way water floating in microgravity does. Paint that would fall to the ground if it didn't stick to anything on Earth, would just be floating around in microgravity. Any dissolved gasses or moisture can usually passively sort themselves out due to their differing masses, but again, not in microgravity.
- nomel 4mo agoYeah, the application system is probably the tricky bit, rather than the paint. > Any dissolved gasses or moisture can usually passively sort themselves out due to their differing masses, but again, not in microgravity. This is a solved problem with the ECLSS system [1], required from humans releasing ~3.3 lbs of water per day, and exhaling gases that must not accumulate or form dead zones, and normal VOCs scrubbers [2] due to most modern materials releasing them. I suspect it would be more of a "how many extra filters do we send" type problem and cycling the collected water a couple more times. [1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1364032126001632 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S13640... [2] https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Typical-concentrations-of-major-VOCs-in-ISS-cabin-air-and-VOC-concentrations-of-the-gas_tbl1_344671138 https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Typical-concentrations-o...
- malfist 4mo agoFor every complex, difficult and hard problem, there is a simple, easy and wrong solution. Paint obviously is not the right tool for making seals air tight.
- setopt 4mo agoHow about glue?
- justinator 4mo agoBubble gum? Like do they chew space bubble gum that they could then smoosh in the holes? In college, we'd use toothpaste for the holes left from nails in the walls we hung up our posters with.
- doublerabbit 4mo agoIt's time to kick ass and chew bubble gum... and I'm all outta gum
- dylan604 4mo agoIsn't the main problem finding the hole and not what should be used to fill the hole?
- stackghost 4mo agoThey need Matt Damon, a chopped up wooden crucifix, and some silicone caulking
- jmaw 4mo agoThey need Phil Swift, "To show the powerful adhesion of flex-seal, I sawed this space station in half!"
- justinator 4mo agoYou'd think after 8 years, they'd have found the hole!
- numpad0 4mo agoyeah, why can't they just make astronauts wear goggles, then stop the fans, and tell them to squirt some superglue in the air to let it clog the hole?
- switchbak 4mo agoOh come on you can't be serious. Clearly this needs some JB-Weld :P
- snickerbockers 4mo agoPut a bit of spare sheet metal over the hole and let the pressure differential hold it down. For added safety affix a post-it not with DO NOT REMOVE written on it in all capital letters and underlined. They can even use those special zero-g ballpoint pens they spent eleventy-billion dollars inventing back during the johnson administration.
- numpad0 4mo agoBut they still haven't located the leak. My blob of glue idea solves that by automatically permeating into the cracks. wait, do they have to have matched CTE and k to the existing material... hmm
- NetMageSCW 4mo agoDo you know what causes superglue to harden? Do you think that will be found in a vacuum?
- adaml_623 4mo agoCardboard's out. No cardboard derivatives. Paper? No Paper. No string. No sellotape.
- soupspaces 4mo agoSome fire decal while they're at it?
- stronglikedan 4mo ago> But I wonder why it is impossible to do. Because, space. It's hard. Unbelievably hard.