Updates ISS UPDATES

[Urwumpe]

Former ISS astronaut Alexander Gerst will receive the German order of merit, first class, on January 13. As reason is stated his representation of spaceflight.

http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/...t-bekommt-bundesverdienstkreuz-a-1011674.html

 

[Kyle]

Possible ammonia leak in the ISS.

---------- Post added at 11:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:22 AM ----------

Fire alarms are being heard over the loop.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Is Node 2's cooling system a common loop with any other modules? The rest of the USOS, Columbus, Kibo, possibly?

 

[Urwumpe]

Is Node 2's cooling system a common loop with any other modules? The rest of the USOS, Columbus, Kibo, possibly?

Yes - you have two two-loop cooling systems there, one external with ammonia and one internal with water.

The external loops pass through heat exchangers, the USOS modules are all connected to the heat exchangers by water circuits.

 

[SiberianTiger]

It doesn't make clear why they report an air contamination in Node 2 specifically.

Edit: yet I can see that JEM is basically on the same pipe...

 

[Kyle]

Okay. It sounds like the smoke/fire alarms are originating from MRM-2 and are false alarms. Also no visual detection of anything abnormal.

Still trying to figure out what exactly happen on Loop B in Node-2, MCC-H not convinced it was an ammonia leak, possible combination of sensor issues to make it look like an ammonia leak.

---------- Post added at 12:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:04 PM ----------

Meanwhile, MCC-H advises the crew to enjoy their impromptu "day off" while they review data on the ground.

 

[IronRain]

Per CAPCOM, Houston is not convinced there was a leak and they are having experts come in to pour over the data

 

[Urwumpe]

Well, the Loop B data looks bad, but is stable.

 

[SiberianTiger]

No ammonia leak is confirmed, according to the latest messages.

 

[Urwumpe]

It doesn't make clear why they report an air contamination in Node 2 specifically.

Not sure there, but the coolant temperature is also very low as it is slightly below freezing. Maybe something related.

 

[Ripley]

You can hear actual comms about the event on this page (scroll down a bit).
http://www.astronautinews.it/2015/01/14/aggiornamento-emergenza-corso-sulla-iss/

 

[Urwumpe]

No leak, wrong indication, astronauts will slowly return to the USOS.

 

[agentgonzo]

The BBC News article said they were 'evacuated'. I assume that means jumping into the Soyuz capsules. Did they actually detach from the ISS?

 

[Urwumpe]

The BBC News article said they were 'evacuated'. I assume that means jumping into the Soyuz capsules. Did they actually detach from the ISS?

No, they did not even enter the Soyuz capsules. They only evacuated the affected modules.

The crew may also evacuate to the capsules and wait there, should the whole station be affected. Detaching from the station is "abandoning the station".

 

[Kyle]

Doesn't sound like they'll be re-entering the USOS today, so it'll be six people jammed in the Russian segment for the rest of the day.

At least ATV-5 is still there.

 

[IronRain]

From NSF:

Moscow is telling the Cosmonauts to make sure everyone knows how to use the bathroom in the Russian segment without overloading it--breaks between use are required

:lol:

 

[IronRain]

Nasaspaceflight.com: ISS ammonia leak alarm suspected as false sensor indication

Technical article to be published later today by Orbinaut Pete

 

[N_Molson]

The crew has performed an IVA in the suspect modules wearing gas masks and have not reported anything out of the ordinary.

 

[DaveS]

The crew has performed an IVA in the suspect modules wearing gas masks and have not reported anything out of the ordinary.

Yes. Due to ATCS Loop B being down, sleeping is prohibited in Node 2/COL/JEM. MCC-H will continue troubleshooting work and remaining reconfigs over-night. They'll call the crew if there's anything critical required but for now they have started their sleep-period. Orbit 3 FCT is now on-console.

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

It's spacewalk time! Over the next 2 weeks Barry Wilmore and Terry Virts will be busy outside the ISS to route cables all over the place on 3 EVAs in preparation for the installation of new docking adapters to PMA-2 and 3 (the latter of which will be moved to Harmony zenith later this year) for the docking of US crew vehicles a few years down the road.

The first of 3 spacewalks will start today at around 12:00 UTC: