Science and Society

This is what it's all about. Making repairs while in orbit or inflight to where ever (a manned mission to Mars leaps to mind), is a necessary skill. It doesn't matter how skillful the engineers are that designed the vehicle, sooner or later, someone has to get out the screwdriver and go to work. More importantly, they'll have to find out where the metal shavings in the rotating joint came from. Possibly a design flaw, in which case, feedback from the astronauts is vital to the design group. I wish them luck.

Spaceflight is inherently dangerous and, despite our excellent record, things will and do break. Having the ability to make ad hoc repairs is a vital skill that space travelers must have. This crew is doing an excellent job, both on the ground and in orbit. I love in Huntsville, Alabama, where the Marshall Space Flight Center manages mush of the ISS program. The team here in town disserves a pat on the back.

Comments and replies from a former high reliability safety inspector. These astronauts are performing an outstanding performance -- semper fi

"I think so," he said. "Looks like the patient is prepped." Reply, I have not seen this solar wing, but from what they are describing it sounds like a simple design that is not very practical and we all come to dislike it our homes. In question, is the guide wire solid, or a cable. It should be a cable, and of a large gauge with holding brackets at least, and the panels should have had a stabilizer system. These units are in motion from factory through ground transportation and then launch and max Q then the lifting from cargo bay into position and furloughing. In question, how many times did the manufacture test these units before they declared them space station worth? Who declared these unit as worthy for this type of service?

That's an inside joke; Parazynski, in earlier life, was an emergency room physician. Reply, I am currently writing my homework sheet for my Cardiologist with whom I am undergoing considerable and extensive isolation study on myself before it is to late. However this issue with NASA is captivating and brings back memories which I hope are of benefit for your problem. I visited a local store that carried large solar panels and picked them up for observation, but that is not very helpful.

Words like "risky" and "dangerous" have been used a lot over the last few days to describe this EVA, and NASA's been trying to steer people away from them. Sure, they say, this walk is riskier than average, but as long as the astronauts take things slowly, they should be fine. Reply, on the last shuttle mission NASA said it was to risky to send a astronaut out on the aluminum arm and I agreed because they could not repair the damaged area once they arrived anyway. In the USMC I was in field wire and have climbed over 60 feet and the sway from my weight is noticeable, plus I have climbed in Vietnam in place of power line poles two 2 x 4s at heights of 20 feet, and I met a little green critter I thought might have been a worm but was really the pit viper on my left shoulder and that was in a tree in Vietnam on top of Monkey mountain where I had made friendly relations with the gibbon apes, and as far as I know those apes remained as the jungle sentries for the HAWK missile battery for the duration of the conflict and each morning they would sing a different song.

Glad to see it.

I do not like making isolation calls on configurations I cannot see, further I am under Cardiologist doctors care for serious ailments the VA has missed, and as NASA well knows these projects are most important to me and beyond my ability to just walk away from. I have tried to find a configuration of the gearing system to help explain the metal dusting and scoring problem, however what I believe has happen is this, the system was installed out of balance, and if so, what training and tools was provided to the astronauts. If my assumption is correct it is like a vehicle’s tire being installed and must be balanced properly, or else it will be out of balance and scoring will take place.

These guys are top-shelf people. Don't second-guess them, don't discount what they have done. They're in an environment so hostile, it takes an entirely new discipline to live in it. Two fingers of Jack Daniel's to Dr. Parazynski.
Well done, Doc.

Have you seen any UFO flying around? If you do don't tell the military or NASA to fire the nuclear rocket out to space to shut them down would ya. Keep on doing the good work out there and be safe. One more thing, please activate the L5 1176.45mkz. We needed down here. Thank You. You're the man.

Every now and again we have to take someone out of the comfort zone and give them a bigger hammer. Our guys in Iraq and Afghanistan do that everyday, and they are largely ignored. Defusing bombs, saving lives in the ER, confronting evil knowing one wrong move means death for them possibly tens of others as well, working with calm and precision.

Then you get guys floating 251 miles up travelling at 17,000 mph on the end of a metal tube, knowing if anything goes wrong with the spacesuit he is a dead man working with calm and precision.

The thing is they are the same in my eyes. They are made of the right stuff. Trying to make the world a better place despite the idiots ruling the roost.

you guys are doing a great job, keep it up. from a guy who help keep the wourld safe for democery durning the early 60s in the united states navy on the USS Vigil AGR12.

I don't feel good about this. I doubt it was repaired sufficiently. I hope I'm wrong.

P.Khamsaly; What is a "mkx"? Perhaps you menat "MHz". If so, please keep the following "rules" in mind for the future: 1. M=mega, m=milli, 2. Hertz is always abbreviated Hz, not hz, because Hertz is a man's last name. These are common mistakes, and this is just a friendly reminder - nothing more.

I agree with Williamwfh that it doesn't apperar that these panels were tested sufficiently. There should NEVER have been something they could snag on. Kudos to the shuttle crew for their excellent repair job! They've save someone's hide again.

may GOD bless you all.