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If you read the original article one of the comments at the end was from an STS engineer expressing his opinion that it would be impossible (not enough propelle

If you read the original article one of the comments at the end was from an STS engineer expressing his opinion that it would be impossible (not enough propellent, never mind pilot fatigue) for the rescue shuttle to maintain station keeping for the required amount of time to do proper full suited EVAs. Hence my "In extremis" bit at the beginning before thinking about the feasibility of non-suited. I wasn't asking if it was a good idea (It obviously isn't if it can be avoided)

philwelch 13y ago
More or less impossible than jumping from one space shuttle to another, in space, in shirtsleeves while suffering from carbon dioxide poisoning and surviving?
- nl 13y ago
  Problems don't get solved by pointing out how difficult they are. Of course it's hard! The whole rescue mission is just about impossible. But this does seem to be one area that isn't explored, and is pretty key to the whole mission. It's worth noting that astronauts on EVA actually have their heads under a lot more air pressure than their bodies.
  - philwelch 13y ago
    I'm just saying that I suspect the people at NASA who wrote this document likely designed the least impossible hypothetical mission after considering a number of approaches, and didn't necessarily write down every approach they considered.
XorNot 13y ago
Going unsuited seems unnecessary - why not grab some reinforced mylar balloons, put the astronauts in them and pressurize, then have the EVA crew shepard them across (possibly on a tether or using the manoeuver packs). Or if the weight can be managed, a more robust option seems like it would be to be weld a coffin-like container that could fit through an airlock, and put life-support on the inside, then wrap it in insulation. Either way, we're not talking about a long term thing here - just something which will keep a person alive long enough to be moved between vehicles. Does make me wonder if you couldn't build some type of inflatable slinky-duct though.

philwelch 13y ago

More or less impossible than jumping from one space shuttle to another, in space, in shirtsleeves while suffering from carbon dioxide poisoning and surviving?

nl 13y ago
Problems don't get solved by pointing out how difficult they are. Of course it's hard! The whole rescue mission is just about impossible. But this does seem to be one area that isn't explored, and is pretty key to the whole mission. It's worth noting that astronauts on EVA actually have their heads under a lot more air pressure than their bodies.
- philwelch 13y ago
  I'm just saying that I suspect the people at NASA who wrote this document likely designed the least impossible hypothetical mission after considering a number of approaches, and didn't necessarily write down every approach they considered.

XorNot 13y ago

Going unsuited seems unnecessary - why not grab some reinforced mylar balloons, put the astronauts in them and pressurize, then have the EVA crew shepard them across (possibly on a tether or using the manoeuver packs). Or if the weight can be managed, a more robust option seems like it would be to be weld a coffin-like container that could fit through an airlock, and put life-support on the inside, then wrap it in insulation. Either way, we're not talking about a long term thing here - just something which will keep a person alive long enough to be moved between vehicles. Does make me wonder if you couldn't build some type of inflatable slinky-duct though.