From: Michael M. Butler (mmb@spies.com)
Date: Sun Feb 02 2003 - 17:22:43 MST
Greg Burch wrote:
>>From: Michael M. Butler
>>
>>Greg Burch wrote:
>>
>>>Question for the rocket scientists: Would Columbia have had enough
>>>delta-v aboard to change orbital planes for a rendezvous with ISS?
>>>NASA's been saying such a move would have been fruitless
>>
>>because there
>>
>>>was no docking/airlock module on board, but a crew transfer
>>
>>could have
>>
>>>been done in the pumpkin suits.
>>
>>Hmm. Does ISS have a lock with doors big enough to pass a
>>pumpkin suit? Or would the idea be to de-press Columbia *and*
>>(part of) ISS for the necessary phases of the transfer?
>>
>>You're the better student of the current configuration of ISS...
>
>
> There are 2 airlocks on ISS -- one US and one Russian. The pumpkin
> suits are smaller than either the US IMU suit or the Russian Orlan suit
> and the airlocks are each designed to accommodate 2 astronauts suited
> for EVA and a good deal of equipment. In the emergency situation we're
> talking about, the pumpkin suits would be good enough to hold pressure
> for the transfer out the starboard side door of the shuttle. Here's the
> mission profile:
<le snippage>
Right, I knew the locks were big, wasn't sure about the *doors* (hatches).
You know what? I have a gut feeling that the folks involved dislike the
pumpkin suits so much that they wouldn't use them unless there was an acute
need due to, e.g., loss of pressure in the shuttle. But that's just my inner
ape (informed by a little experience observing bad ape risk estimation and
hearing scuttlebutt about general flight and ground crew feelings) talking...
[Can't brachiate *or* walk upright. Bad. No like. Not suffocating yet? Good,
leave bad pumpkin alone. Sit in tree, tree safe, air good.]
The main thing looks to me as if it's once again the case that NASA fell
prey to the old punchline where the woman blushes and says "Well, no--most
of the time *nothing* happens."
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