Ned Potter is the science correspondent for ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson." He has reported on such topics as space exploration, the human genome and climate change.
RECENT POSTS
- Mars Rover: Stuck in the Mud
- Tranquility Base
- NASA's Ares 1-X Test: The View From Above
- The Yes Men
- The Missing Link -- Not
- Moon Crash Kicked Up Plume After All
- Moon Crash: Where's the Water?
- Green Apple: Firm is Latest to Leave U.S. Chamber of Commerce
- Recovery.gov: Your Tax Dollars at Work
- Climate: Power Companies Quit U.S Chamber of Commerce
MONTHLY ARCHIVES
« Previous | Main | Next »
Lost in Translation
June 18, 2007 11:36 AM
As best we can tell, the space station computer crisis was caused by a fried power switch or circuit board, and solved by jumper cables. The station crew has been testing the thrusters controlled by the computers this morning, and if all goes well, that will be that. NASA's version is HERE.
So, with any luck, the crisis is over. The seven astronauts of Atlantis get to come home, and the three men who stay on the ISS will keep their vigil in orbit until the next shuttle flight (STS-118, flown by Endeavour), currently scheduled for August.
No big deal?
For a while, it genuinely was a big deal. We asked a NASA manager how serious it was on Wednesday night, and he said, "Worse than Mir," referring to the Russians' troubled space station of the 1990s.
But in the maelstrom of attempts to fix things, there were a few things that, it appears, were misread. When someone at Russia's mission control suggested that the computers may have gotten an unexpected power surge from newly-installed American solar panels, that was somehow misinterpreted to mean the Russians were accusing the Americans of causing the problem.
Both the Russian and American space agencies stoutly denied that. "When you have two countries with a lot of experience working together, it's amazing what you can do," said Mike Suffredini, the ISS program manager, on Friday.
And there was an emotional goodbye to the station from Suni Williams, the astronaut who, over the weekend, broke the record for longest flight by a woman (she hits 190 days today). "Saying goodbye is always hard, but it means it's time for the ISS to grow a little more," she said. She sounded pretty choked up.
June 18, 2007 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (4)
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
We can hope that that is that. There's still the issue of the torn insulator blanket that NASA says shouldn't be a problem. Well, NASA has been wrong before. There was even talk about abandoning the ISS because of the crashed computers. A heck of a waste of taxpayer dollars, time and resources. Let's hope that that is, indeed, that.
Posted by: Andy | Jun 18, 2007 12:17:59 PM
I'm glad to hear that the computer problem has been resolved, but hasn't NASA heard of a surge protector to guard its computers against such damage? I know of no personal computer here on Earth which doesn't have one as standard equipment.
Posted by: chuck | Jun 19, 2007 8:51:10 AM
In his newscast tonight Charlie Gibson mentioned that the orbit of the shuttle which left the space station today will be visible tonight and tomorrow night. Can you tell me where and when???? I would very much like to see it.
Thanks....maggie
Posted by: Maggie Tennent | Jun 19, 2007 8:24:56 PM
I love the space program but boy am I glad to have two feet on solid ground. God bless those astronauts.
Posted by: Arizona Home Insurance | Jun 23, 2007 12:10:04 AM
Post a comment
