Due to some manner or other of unstated technical difficulties, the most recent unmanned Прогресс ("Progress") supply rocket to the International Space Station was unable to dock so that the station's inhabitants could open the pod bay doors and offload its cargo of scientific equipment, video gear, Netflix rentals, this month's issue of Maxim and, you know, food and oxygen.
A NASA spokeswoman (who is not on the station) says everything's cool, and the Russian controllers say they'll try again, maybe mañana or something.
Unless you tune into NASA TV every now and again, it can be easy to forget that there are actual real, live people up there on a constant basis these days.
mañana=>zavtra
ReplyDeleteYou try to teach them, but they just eat the covers of the books (something about they taste like bacon).
Shootin' Buddy
Maybe we could move the White House crew to the ISS... It might be nice to forget about them.
ReplyDeleteSee, that's what happens when you let robots leave Russia without a minder. Right away they try to defect to Europa.
ReplyDeleteWhen will they learn that Europans love Maxim?
Some interesting background info here.
ReplyDeleteKurs is built in the Ukraine; it ain't cheap. SOP has been to unbolt 'em from Progress and send 'em back on the Shuttle so they can be reused. That'll be ending in two more flights, unless the European ATV has reentry capabilities: Progress just gets burned up and Soyuz barely has room for carry-on.
...I note ATV and Prgress use incompatible docking control systems. I believe SpaceX's Dragon supply module uses yet another. --Redundnacy or waste?
(or PrOgress...)
ReplyDeleteI pop over to Space Weather every few days as they usually have some cool photos of the ISS and other astronomical phenomena.
ReplyDeleteGuess this is what happens when the Russian President comes to the White House to pick up the shipping fees and Barry feeds him an over-priced burger while telling him "The Check's in the Mail". By the way, Pelosi and Biden, just how many jobs were saved and/or created by gutting NASA? Or should BHO just head on down to the Cape and say, "Hey, at least it ain't 15%! Remember, Nancy said your unemployment check is the best economic stimulus you can have!"
ReplyDeleteThe Russians never could drive for shit.
ReplyDeleteAnd these are the people we want transporting our astronauts to space from now on?
ReplyDeleteKnee-jerk reaction aside, someone needs to hire better programmers, and develop systems and software that is universal across all platforms.
It doesn't fucking help that the docking systems on the ISS were built for the goddamn space shuttles that we happen to be retiring this year!
Agree with you Silver; kinda like buying a Chevy transmission to go into a Ford pickup. There are adapter kits, but in the long-term scheme of things..
ReplyDeleteOpen the pod bay doors HAL.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to Dave.
The orbital tracking page is also cool. It is not running as I write this, but sometimes it's down for a day or two.
ReplyDeleteIt's real time, so before you go over it's fun to guess what country city or region the ISS is zipping over at 17,000+ mph.
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/tracking/
They would get more coverage if they had sex.
ReplyDeleteit can be easy to forget that there are actual real, live people up there on a constant basis these days.
ReplyDeleteI've written a rant a half-dozen times about this, but it's just...not coming together. In short - yeah, it's really easy to forget, because they're not Doing Something. I'm sure the science is great, but it's not building anything, or going anywhere. Playing with a chemistry set in a half-finished airport.
I believe SpaceX's Dragon supply module uses yet another. --Redundnacy or waste?
ReplyDeleteActually, smart planning. The Dragon uses the same Common Berthing Mechanism connections that are used to lock the station modules together.
Dixie, I wasn't referring to the portal (I think there are only two standards for those, Russian and American, both with good track records), but the system used to fly the vehicle into dock; there are three different automated systems, at least one of which has a manual mode, plus the Russian TORU, which seems to be a whole separate system from Kurs, at least on the control side; it may share telemetry link and electronics and certainly shares thrust/attitude hardware.
ReplyDeleteOrbital space stations are cool and all, but I still want my flying car. And I want it now!
ReplyDelete>I've written a rant a half-dozen times about this, but it's just...not coming together. In short - yeah, it's really easy to forget, because they're not Doing Something. I'm sure the science is great, but it's not building anything, or going anywhere. Playing with a chemistry set in a half-finished airport.
ReplyDeleteIn some ways you can think of the space program as welfare for Russian scientists. You could chalk this us as a military expense or as foreign aid. Regardless of what column the red ink shows up as, it's meant to be a cost effective way to keep them from working freelance for Iran's nuclear program or teaching Kim Jong how to build ICBMs.
... but the system used to fly the vehicle into dock...
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've read, it's a totally self-contained LIDAR unit, like the guidance systems the DARPA Challenge cars use. Best information I can find is here (http://www.spacex.com/updates_archive.php?page=2009_2) under the section "DragonEye."
As far as the actual hatches go, NASA uses at least three, one of which (APAS) might be what the Russians use-- it's the docking port designed for the Apollo-Soyuz flight.