NASA repairs shuttle in space, MacGuyver version!

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - NASA repairs shuttle in space, MacGuyver version!

Posted: 8/2/2005 8:32:00 AM EDT

Once there, he'll tug out the ceramic-fabric filler with his gloved hands. If that doesn't work, he'll use a makeshift hacksaw to cut away the material, which is sticking out about an inch from two spots near Discovery's nose. The saw was improvised out of a blade, plastic ties, duct tape, Velcro and other items aboard the space station.

LOL

Source

What's next? Their main CPU breaks down and they have to make a new one out of rubber bands, mouse droppings, sheet metal, and some used tampons?

Posted: 8/2/2005 8:34:05 AM EDT

[#1]

Quoted:
Once there, he'll tug out the ceramic-fabric filler with his gloved hands. If that doesn't work, he'll use a makeshift hacksaw to cut away the material, which is sticking out about an inch from two spots near Discovery's nose. The saw was improvised out of a blade, plastic ties, duct tape, Velcro and other items aboard the space station.

LOL

Source

What's next? Their main CPU breaks down and they have to make a new one out of rubber bands, mouse droppings, sheet metal, and some used tampons?

Can't use those. TheDoor Gunners are using them to clean their shotguns.

Posted: 8/2/2005 8:34:36 AM EDT

[#2]

A space suit and a saw .... scary ...

Posted: 8/2/2005 8:35:32 AM EDT

[#3]

Quoted:
What's next? Their main CPU breaks down and they have to make a new one out of rubber bands, mouse droppings, sheet metal, and some used tampons?

I've seen that done before. The iron in the blood of the tampon is used as a to constrruct the transitistor gates. Fecal matter makes a fine non-conductive adheive and the rubber ba...

Posted: 8/2/2005 8:37:21 AM EDT

[#4]

Aliens in 1930 constructed a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bearskins.

Posted: 8/2/2005 8:48:25 AM EDT

[#5]

Improvise, adapt and overcome!! I Love it!

I am acutallywatching NASA TV right now. they are showing how they tested various ways to do this.. they were willing to do just about anything.. very cool!! A little AMerican inginuity!

Posted: 8/2/2005 8:59:35 AM EDT

[#6]

Sounds like WECSOSR (School of Shuttle Repair)...

Posted: 8/2/2005 9:02:25 AM EDT

[#7]

I think it is funny that they have this huge budget and they use a puddy knife and a homemade saw.

I just saw GW talking to them and they editied it so it sounded like "Thanks for all of your hard work! Now get back to work."

ETA:
The real quote: .

"We are with you and wish you all the very best. Thanks for taking my phone call. Now get back to work," the president said.

Posted: 8/2/2005 9:09:11 AM EDT

[#8]

The guy don't fuck around!

Posted: 8/2/2005 9:10:39 AM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Once there, he'll tug out the ceramic-fabric filler with his gloved hands. If that doesn't work, he'll use a makeshift hacksaw to cut away the material, which is sticking out about an inch from two spots near Discovery's nose. The saw was improvised out of a blade, plastic ties, duct tape, Velcro and other items aboard the space station.

LOL

Source

What's next? Their main CPU breaks down and they have to make a new one out of rubber bands, mouse droppings, sheet metal, and some used tampons?
Can't use those. TheDoor Gunners are using them to clean their shotguns.

Posted: 8/2/2005 9:10:55 AM EDT

[#10]

It can't work without a gum wrapper in the mix somewhere.

Posted: 8/2/2005 9:13:43 AM EDT

[#11]

How many billions of dollars for the shuttle and no real tool kit? They could even issue Leatherma...errr...oops, who do we use now? Anyway, seems like multi-tool would be nice to have?

Posted: 8/2/2005 9:14:41 AM EDT

[#12]

One billion dollars and here we are......

Posted: 8/2/2005 9:15:50 AM EDT

[#13]

Well, considering it costs something like $10,000/lb to orbit, I can see why they aren't taking the Snap-On roller cabinets to space. Then again, they are riding in the (currently) ultimate BOV!

Posted: 8/2/2005 9:16:40 AM EDT

[#14]

Also needed will be the spring in a disposable pen.

Mark my word.

Posted: 8/2/2005 9:31:31 AM EDT

[#15]

Next: NASA explores scenario of astronauts trying to get out of a collapsed ice cave... using nothing paper clips and a toothbrush. (IIRC one episode of MacGuyver had him stuck in an ice cave, and in StarGate, Col O'Neill and Maj Carter were stuck in an ice cave as well).

These "Specialists" must be steely eyed missile men to be hardcore enough to use that home-made saw in space!!!

Posted: 8/2/2005 12:09:03 PM EDT

[#16]

Go back and read the details of the first flight to Skylab where Pete Conrads crew had to free the solar wing. They had NASA people raiding hardware stores to get tools suitable for the job.

Pete and Joe Kerwin ended up using what amounted to a cable operated tree pruner to free the wing!

The two astronauts, following Rusty's instructions, assembled a 25-foot aluminum pole from five-foot sections, and attached a cable cutter to one end; they attached the other to the ATM truss. Joe Kerwin, shown here, extended the long-handled cable cutter, while Pete made his way down to the stuck panel along the handrails, and attached the cutter jaws to the strap holding the solar wing back. Then, in case the panel didn't deploy fully, he attached a tether to one end of the wing, and the other end of the tether, he attached to a vent hole in the side of the OWS cylinder. The station flew into night, so they took a little break to prepare for the actual cutting. When they came back around to daylight again, they gave it a shot. Nothing. The cutters werent's biting through the strap. Pete floated out to them, hand-over-hand on the rail-when suddenly, the cutters snapped through the strap, and the wing beam sprung out suddenly, bouncing a very surprised Pete Conrad out into space, where he found himself spinning around at the end of his tether! He managed to pull himself back to the station, but as they had anticipated, they saw that the solar wing had only extended about 20 degrees; they needed it sticking straight out at 90 degrees to fully deploy the solar panels. They tried to just pull it loose, but discovered that in zero-G, they needed more leverage. So Pete worked his way down the rail between Joe and the wing beam, ducked under the tether, and stood up, bracing the tether over his shoulder, acting as a fulcrum, while Joe pulled as hard as he could. It worked-the wing pulled loose, and the solar panels deployed. They went back inside; Skylab now had plenty of electrical power. The 3-hour, 30-minute EVA had been one of the most exhausting yet productive spacewalks to date-proving that men really could do hard work in space if the need arose. Experience gained on Gemini and Apollo SIM retrieval spacewalks had just been put to good use.

groups.msn.com/spacecowboysaloon/skylab2partiitakincareofbusiness.msnw

NASA has a history of "can do" but that was when PILOTS and ENGINEERS ran the show, not bureaucrats and bean counters. You turn the people with the know how loose and it WILL GET DONE.

Posted: 8/2/2005 12:19:20 PM EDT

[#17]

NASA's been Macguyvering things since before macguyver
Apollo 13 anyone?

Posted: 8/2/2005 12:34:13 PM EDT

[#18]

Some Others...

Posted: 8/2/2005 12:35:18 PM EDT

[#19]

What they're not telling us is that the commanders 3 inch heel caught one of the tiles as SHE was climbing into the thing. OOPS, tee hee, sorry.

Posted: 8/2/2005 12:36:13 PM EDT

[#20]

Took me a second on the IE wallpaper one.

Heh.

Posted: 8/2/2005 12:38:37 PM EDT

[#21]

if the tsa hadn't taken the scissors out of the pilots manicure set they'd have the proper tools to cut the shit with.

Posted: 8/2/2005 12:40:15 PM EDT

[#22]

Remember Apollo 13 and they had to improvise a CO2 filter, when you are up in space you have to be able to use what it available.

Posted: 8/2/2005 12:41:57 PM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:
if the tsa hadn't taken the scissors out of the pilots manicure set they'd have the proper tools to cut the shit with.

yeah, but they left the nail glue!! That should come in handy

Posted: 8/2/2005 12:44:43 PM EDT

[#24]

Quoted:
if the tsa hadn't taken the scissors out of the pilots manicure set they'd have the proper tools to cut the shit with.

I was on a flight to Puerto Rico on which a man died because nobody had a little Philips screwdriver so that either of the THREE (!) doctors on board could make repairs to the man's malfunctioning oxygen system.

Posted: 8/2/2005 12:48:57 PM EDT

[#25]

What a waste. Get those people down and mothball the damned things.

Posted: 8/2/2005 1:02:08 PM EDT

[#26]

I hope he doesn't do more damage to the tiles inbetween the gap filler when he trims them or pulls them out !!

HOUSTON—While STS-114 spacewalker Stephen Robinson will be working alone during a one-man repair job underneath the shuttle Discovery Wednesday, he will not be out of sight or the minds of his fellow crewmates and flight controllers, the astronauts and shuttle officials said today.

As part of a planned extravehicular activity (EVA) tomorrow, Robinson is expected to board the end of a long robotic arm and remove two strips of ceramic fiber cloth—known as gap-filler—jutting out from between the fragile heat-resistant tiles along Discovery’s belly. The repair is scheduled to take place at about 7:30 a.m. EDT (1130 GMT), three hours and 20 minutes into the early morning spacewalk, shuttle officials said.

“At the highlight of the EVA, when Steve is removing the gap-filler, we’re all going to be listening very intently,” STS-114 commander Eileen Collins told reporters vie video downlink earlier today.

During the fix, Robinson’s fellow Discovery astronauts will track his movements via robot-arm mounted cameras radio while his spacewalking partner Soichi Noguchi, of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), will keep close watch on the operation from a vantage point outside the ISS.

“He’s there to give us another set of eyes and also serve as relay [for communications] if needed,” said Kelly Beck, flight director of NASA’s Tiger Team assigned to hammer out procedures for changes in Discovery’s flight plan, during a mission status report here at Johnson Space Center (JSC).

Shuttle officials decided Monday to press forward with the spacewalk repair to clear any concerns with Discovery’s vital heat shield. The protruding gap-fillers could disrupt the aerodynamics of Discovery’s reentry planned for Aug. 8, forcing the air around the orbiter to shift from the smooth laminar flow into a turbulent mix a bit earlier in the descent, while it flies at Mach 21 as opposed to Mach 18 or so, that could cause increase heating to its tile surface and wing leading edges, they said then.

During the repair, Robinson will stand atop the robotic arm attached to the International Space Station (ISS), while Discovery’s crew maneuvers the shuttle’s robotic arm – capped with an orbital boom extension to make a 100-foot crane – to watch with its own camera.

“We’re not used to putting a crewmember around the bottom of the orbiter,” said Paul Hill, STS-114’s lead shuttle flight director, of the first-time repair job. “That’s a new touch.”

Spacewalk planners are unsure whether Robinson helmet mounted camera will be able to broadcast images of the fix as the astronaut first uses his right hand to pull out the gap-fillers, and then a saw to cut them off if they don’t budge.

Discovery astronauts and flight controllers agree that the removal technique for the gap-fillers, a simple tugging motion by hand, is relatively simple, but they are concerned about potentially damaging the shuttle’s tile-lined belly.

“We may get a little closer than a foot [from the tile], but when we do we’ll have very good visibility and we’ll be moving very slowly,” said astronaut David Wolf, head of the EVA branch of NASA’s Astronaut Office. “We don’t like getting close to the tile, [it] is a delicate instrument of the shuttle.”

Robinson will take care not to bump his helmet, the most probably point of impact, on the shuttle’s vulnerable tiles, Wolf added.

Spacewalk officials are confident that should a gentle touch or slip from Robinson’s secondary tool – the modified hack saw – does cause tile damage, it will be relatively minor. But just in case, Robinson and Noguchi will preposition a tile repair method they tested in an earlier spacewalk – an emittance wash applicator that coats chipped tiles to increase heat shedding – just outside the shuttle airlock, which could be applied to any damage caused, shuttle officials said.

“When we went to look at this, we had difficulty even inducing intentional tile damage with the saw,” Wolf said. “And you’d be able to detect when you’re hitting the orbiter will before you do a critical damage.”

Posted: 8/2/2005 1:45:15 PM EDT

[#27]

Quoted:
How many billions of dollars for the shuttle and no real tool kit? They could even issue Leatherma...errr...oops, who do we use now? Anyway, seems like multi-tool would be nice to have?

The TSA has banned all Leatherman and other Multi tool devices. The risks that an ROP crewmwmber will flip out and start cutting off heads is just to great.

Posted: 8/2/2005 1:51:04 PM EDT

[#28]

Ingenuity is one thing--and for sure NASA and its rocket scientists have smarts in spades.

But what is fucking absurd is that it was EPA regs. that prevented the proper adhesive from being used.

The space program is bigger than some enrironmental bullshit.

Posted: 8/2/2005 1:55:56 PM EDT

[#29]

"He once got our car battery to work with spit and bird feces 'cause there's, like, acids in it, eh?"

Posted: 8/2/2005 1:58:52 PM EDT

[#30]

Yeah cause they would obviously carry tools for every possible scenerio and repair that might be needed, and payload allows them to carry a Snap-On cart into orbit.

Posted: 8/2/2005 1:59:21 PM EDT

[#31]

Quoted:
Quoted:
if the tsa hadn't taken the scissors out of the pilots manicure set they'd have the proper tools to cut the shit with.
I was on a flight to Puerto Rico on which a man died because nobody had a little Philips screwdriver so that either of the THREE (!) doctors on board could make repairs to the man's malfunctioning oxygen system.

Fucking bubble wrap nation. (refering to the saftey culture/nanny state of the US in the past few decades)

Posted: 8/2/2005 2:00:10 PM EDT

[#32]

Quoted:
Quoted:
How many billions of dollars for the shuttle and no real tool kit? They could even issue Leatherma...errr...oops, who do we use now? Anyway, seems like multi-tool would be nice to have?

The TSA has banned all Leatherman and other Multi tool devices. The risks that an ROP crewmwmber will flip out and start cutting off heads is just to great.

Solution: other passengers beat the crap out of him/her.

Posted: 8/2/2005 5:29:21 PM EDT

[#33]

It is great that they have the skills to fix what they need to fix with so little. It is so sad that they have to.

Posted: 8/2/2005 6:03:16 PM EDT

[#34]

Quoted:
Took me a second on the IE wallpaper one.

Heh.

Yeah, the first time I saw that it took me a second also.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - NASA repairs shuttle in space, MacGuyver version!

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