[meteorite-list] Astronauts to Comb International Space Station for Meteorite Strike

From: Pete Pete <rsvp321_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2007 23:31:15 -0500
Message-ID: <BAY141-W2352BF6BD1D8A2EF942D84F85C0_at_phx.gbl>

Season's Greetings, all!

Technically speaking, isn't the object hitting the ISS still a meteoroid?

It is, after all, still in "outer space"...


Cheers,
Pete

Apologies if this topic has been previously vented.







> From: baalke at zagami.jpl.nasa.gov
> To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2007 09:30:13 -0800
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Astronauts to Comb International Space Station for Meteorite Strike
>
>
> http://news.theage.com.au/astronauts-comb-iss-for-meteorite-strike/20071214-1h27.html
> Astronauts comb ISS for meteorite strike
> The Age (Australia)
> December 14, 2007
>
> Two astronauts on the International Space Station will make a spacewalk
> next week to find out if a micro-meteorite strike damaged a critical
> part of the outpost's power system, officials say.
>
> The station is not in any danger and is still producing enough power to
> support the arrival of Russian cargo ship later this month, said station
> deputy program manager Kirk Shireman.
>
> NASA has now announced the space shuttle Atlantis will not take off
> until January 10 with Europe's Columbus science module on board.
>
> That flight, originally planned for last week, was postponed when
> sensors in the shuttle's fuel tank failed during two launch attempts.
>
> Shireman said the power problem would probably not affect plans to
> attach Columbus to the station next month. But flights of Japanese
> modules in February and April could be affected.
>
> Without repairs, "we know we can't go too much farther," he said.
>
> Station commander Peggy Whitson and flight engineer Dan Tani are
> scheduled for a 6.5-hour spacewalk on Tuesday to inspect two joints
> needed to position the station's right-side solar panels toward the sun.
>
> The primary joint, which rotates the panels 360 degrees, was locked in
> place in October after spacewalking astronauts during the last shuttle
> mission discovered metal shards inside the mechanism.
>
> Additional inspections were planned during Atlantis' mission, but the
> work was shifted to the station crew's schedule after the launch was
> postponed.
>
> An additional problem with a second joint, which lets the panels pivot
> even while the primary joint is locked, surfaced on December 8.
>
> "It makes power generation much more difficult," Shireman said.
>
> Because several independent pieces of equipment were simultaneously
> affected, engineers suspect a micro-meteorite strike may be to blame.
>
> They also theorised a piece of debris may have worked itself free and
> floated into an area that shorted out electrical components.
>
> Spare parts to fix the second joint are on board the station, though if
> the problem is with the device's cables a repair would have to wait
> until supplies arrive on the next cargo ship or aboard the shuttle,
> Shireman said.
>
> "This (spacewalk) is a fact-finding mission," he said.
>
> "It is hoped that something the crew sees can help us narrow down the
> problem."
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Received on Tue 18 Dec 2007 11:31:15 PM PST