| March, 2009 |  |
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Bad vibrations may knock years off the space station's life
NASA is investigating whether moving the International Space Station last month caused structural damage that could cut the station's useful life, the agency said Monday.
Russian engineers last month sought to position the station to receive a robotic spacecraft on Feb. 13. The rockets used to change the station's location cut off abruptly rather than gradually, said NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries said.
That caused the station to shake more than it usually does, according to daily reports on the station's condition that are posted on NASA's website.
The extra jostling may have caused damage to the station that could affect its longevity, Humphries said.
"Anytime you impart a vibration to the station it has potential implications" for the station's solar panels and the connections between the station's parts, Humphries said.
The station's longevity is a sore point. NASA has no firm plans to make use of the orbiting laboratory, which costs roughly $100 billion, after 2015. Many of the other 13 nations that helped build and operate the outpost want to keep it going until 2020.
The station was built with extra structural strength, Humphries said, and the current analysis is "just making sure we haven't eaten into that margin."
NASA officials may decide today whether to call off a second attempt to move the station planned for Wednesday or to do it with a different set of rockets than those used in the station's earlier move, Humphries said.
The rockets used in January are on the exterior of a section of the station that serves as a kitchen and dining room. There's also a set of rockets on a robotic cargo pod that is temporarily parked at the station. Those could move the station Wednesday if engineers are still worried that last month's problem could recur.
The rockets on the station are also used to move the station out of the path of any oncoming debris that could puncture its exterior shield. Humphries said he did not know whether such maneuvers would be performed given the current uncertainty over the rockets' performance.
Space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to blast off Feb. 12 to carry new solar panels to the station. Its visit should not be affected by the relocation that went awry, Humphries said.
The station also needs to move in March so it can receive a Russian spacecraft carrying two new residents for the station. That will allow two crewmembers now aboard the station to go home.
Delays in construction mean that the station, which was started in 1998, still isn't finished and has been occupied by skeleton crews of two or three people. The first full crew of six people is scheduled to take up residence in May.
Equipment inside the station also is giving NASA headaches. New equipment for converting urine into drinking water — necessary to maintain a crew of six — failed, according to the daily online reports about the station. Officials hope to fly a replacement part on the upcoming shuttle flight.
Cellphones take flight on Ryanair
Budget carrier Ryanair has become the first European airline to launch in-flight cellphone service. The Irish discount
airline is famous for finding ancillary sources of revenue, and cellphone calls and texting could be a cash cow. The
service will cost £1.50 to £3 per minute (one pound is currently worth $1.43), 40p per text sent (incoming ones are
free) and £1 to £2 for limited e-mails use.
A reporter for
The
Independent offers an amusing account of the first cellphone-enabled flight: “Shortly after 10am yesterday, flight
FR113 from Gatwick to Dublin changed flying in Britain forever by unleashing on the unsuspecting air traveller another
budget airline innovation. Precisely seven minutes after take-off, a green light on a newly-installed overhead cabin
sign lit up, reading: “Mobile use permitted.”
Anticipating the uproar over a cabin full of chatter, Ryanair’s chief executive Michael O’Leary is quoted by
The Guardian: “I have no patience
with the Luddite approach that says people don’t want to use their mobile phones in-flight … You don’t take a flight
to contemplate your life in silence. Our services are not cathedral-like sanctuaries… We will be encouraging our
passengers to make as many calls as possible because that will lower our costs and boost our revenues.”
Indeed, The Independent observes, “In an effort to maximise use of its high-altitude chit-chat facility, Ryanair
has plastered its cabins with posters of doe-eyed blondes and smiling-yet-stern bosses with slogans such as “She’s
expecting your message” and “Tell him about your meeting”.
The system can only be used above 10,000 feet and currently operates only with select European cellphone networks.
Ryanair has outfitted 25 of its 170 aircraft with the cellphone system so far, but says it will equip the entire fleet
within 18 months. According to BBC.com, “passengers on routes between Dublin and the London-area airports at Gatwick,
Stansted and Luton can use the service. Availability elsewhere depends on fleet distribution.” The BBC also has a
graphic showing how the system works.
| March, 2009 | |
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