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If something major was to happen inside the ISS and poison all the air or something. I wonder how we would go about recovering the station, without a space shu

If something major was to happen inside the ISS and poison all the air or something. I wonder how we would go about recovering the station, without a space shuttle to go around and live on while doing repairs.

neikos 12y ago
As far as I know the station is too close to earth and is thus slowed by the atmoshpere -> It will crash and burn on earth if no one keeps it on track.
- ceejayoz 12y ago
  It's something that most likely can be done remotely. Apparently they just screw around while it's going on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ggQdkTcLo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ggQdkTcLo
  - jevinskie 12y ago
    I found it amusing that the sensation of the ISS accelerating seemed quite novel to astronauts to whom floating in space is banal.
- AYBABTME 12y ago
  I assume altitude could be maintained remotely for a while.
- viewer5 12y ago
  What do you mean? What stops that from happening now? Does it have thrusters that burn now and then to maintain its orbit?
  - tomswartz07 12y ago
    Yes- they only have to boost it up once every several months or so, however.
  - CWuestefeld 12y ago
    Does it have thrusters that burn now and then to maintain its orbit? AIUI, the Soyuzes (is that the right plural) that are attached as lifeboats/return craft, also are used to adjust ISS orbit. They've got engines, etc., so it's relatively easy to use them in this capacity.
    - TkTech 12y ago
      You are correct, but the station also has two main engines on Zvezda that are rarely used. It's easier and cheaper to keep these main engines ready for emergencies and let the docked craft perform altitude boosts. As to the parent comment, burns are required because the ISS is at a very low altitude. It is still technically within our atmosphere and experiences significant drag from it. In addition, as the stations rotation changes, it's corrected using gyroscopes on the station. Once these gyroscopes have stored their maximum momentum in the flywheels they need to be released, and thrusters are used at that point to cancel out the momentum. Something a lot of people don't seem to realize is that the station is moving all the time. Anything you do on the inside, such as exerting force on a wall or running on the treadmill (which had to be specially designed to minimize vibration transfer to the station) affects the station and must be cancelled out over time. The station moves as part of it's daily operation as well, such as when it enters [night glider mode](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Glider_mode http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Glider_mode) to reduce atmospheric drag.
      - CWuestefeld 12y ago
        Anything you do on the inside, such as exerting force on a wall ... affects the station and must be cancelled out over time. Won't this cancel itself out over time anyway? If the astronaut kicks off one wall (acquiring momentum by applying a force), won't he just float over to the opposite wall and negate that momentum by applying a complementary but opposite force?
- simonh 12y ago
  That process takes years. Even if the station ws uninhabitable we would be able to dock a propulsion unit to it and increase it's altitude if we needed to keep it available.
exDM69 12y ago
The space station would stay in orbit quite a long time without being boosted, that only happens once in several months. Based on past experiences, it's possible to salvage even badly damaged space stations. This has been done before in the US Skylab program and the Soviet Salyut and Mir programs, although never in the same scale as the ISS. Skylab had problems with solar panels and heat shielding which was fixed by spreading a huge blanket of reflective material. In one of the Salyut programs, there was a loss of power which caused the station to freeze over. It was eventually recovered by cosmonauts who entered the dead space station wearing gas masks, and slowly melted the water reservoirs and eventually recovered the station. The Mir station suffered a bunch of problems, including an onboard fire and a collision with an incoming supply vessel. The station persisted despite all these issues as well as the fall of the Soviet union. In the case of a serious accident on the ISS, some kind of contingency plan would certainly be improvised. The exact details would depend on the damage, but it would most certainly not be abandoned without serious attempts at fixing the issues.

neikos 12y ago

As far as I know the station is too close to earth and is thus slowed by the atmoshpere -> It will crash and burn on earth if no one keeps it on track.

ceejayoz 12y ago
It's something that most likely can be done remotely. Apparently they just screw around while it's going on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ggQdkTcLo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ggQdkTcLo
- jevinskie 12y ago
  I found it amusing that the sensation of the ISS accelerating seemed quite novel to astronauts to whom floating in space is banal.
AYBABTME 12y ago
I assume altitude could be maintained remotely for a while.
viewer5 12y ago
What do you mean? What stops that from happening now? Does it have thrusters that burn now and then to maintain its orbit?
- tomswartz07 12y ago
  Yes- they only have to boost it up once every several months or so, however.
- CWuestefeld 12y ago
  Does it have thrusters that burn now and then to maintain its orbit? AIUI, the Soyuzes (is that the right plural) that are attached as lifeboats/return craft, also are used to adjust ISS orbit. They've got engines, etc., so it's relatively easy to use them in this capacity.
  - TkTech 12y ago
    You are correct, but the station also has two main engines on Zvezda that are rarely used. It's easier and cheaper to keep these main engines ready for emergencies and let the docked craft perform altitude boosts. As to the parent comment, burns are required because the ISS is at a very low altitude. It is still technically within our atmosphere and experiences significant drag from it. In addition, as the stations rotation changes, it's corrected using gyroscopes on the station. Once these gyroscopes have stored their maximum momentum in the flywheels they need to be released, and thrusters are used at that point to cancel out the momentum. Something a lot of people don't seem to realize is that the station is moving all the time. Anything you do on the inside, such as exerting force on a wall or running on the treadmill (which had to be specially designed to minimize vibration transfer to the station) affects the station and must be cancelled out over time. The station moves as part of it's daily operation as well, such as when it enters [night glider mode](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Glider_mode http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Glider_mode) to reduce atmospheric drag.
    - CWuestefeld 12y ago
      Anything you do on the inside, such as exerting force on a wall ... affects the station and must be cancelled out over time. Won't this cancel itself out over time anyway? If the astronaut kicks off one wall (acquiring momentum by applying a force), won't he just float over to the opposite wall and negate that momentum by applying a complementary but opposite force?
simonh 12y ago
That process takes years. Even if the station ws uninhabitable we would be able to dock a propulsion unit to it and increase it's altitude if we needed to keep it available.

exDM69 12y ago

The space station would stay in orbit quite a long time without being boosted, that only happens once in several months. Based on past experiences, it's possible to salvage even badly damaged space stations. This has been done before in the US Skylab program and the Soviet Salyut and Mir programs, although never in the same scale as the ISS. Skylab had problems with solar panels and heat shielding which was fixed by spreading a huge blanket of reflective material. In one of the Salyut programs, there was a loss of power which caused the station to freeze over. It was eventually recovered by cosmonauts who entered the dead space station wearing gas masks, and slowly melted the water reservoirs and eventually recovered the station. The Mir station suffered a bunch of problems, including an onboard fire and a collision with an incoming supply vessel. The station persisted despite all these issues as well as the fall of the Soviet union. In the case of a serious accident on the ISS, some kind of contingency plan would certainly be improvised. The exact details would depend on the damage, but it would most certainly not be abandoned without serious attempts at fixing the issues.