Daily Archives: December 20, 2013

Snorkels in Space

Posted: December 20, 2013 at 4:46 pm

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. After a spacewalking astronaut nearly drowned in his helmet in July, NASA has a plan to protect its crew when they venture into the vacuum of space this weekend: snorkels and absorbent towels.

NASA has determined that as many as four urgent spacewalks are necessary to fix a broken cooling line that led to the shutdown of several systems at the International Space Station, the space agency said during a press conference Wednesday afternoon. Station managers decided to send two American astronauts out as soon as possible to replace a pump with a bad valve.

The catch: Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano nearly drowned in July, when more than a gallon of water leaked into his helmet, filling it like a fishbowl. Should water start pooling up again, NASA says it will be ready -- thanks to a hack worthy of TV's "MacGyver."

- Allison Bolinger, NASA's lead U.S. spacewalk officer

Some smart engineers on the ground said, hey, this looks like a snorkel youd use for scuba diving, explained Allison Bolinger, NASA's lead U.S. spacewalk officer. NASA realized that a water-line vent tube could be snipped down and attached with Velcro within the spacesuit, between a water restraint valve and the astronaut, she explained.

The crew members themselves fabricated the snorkels on Sunday.

This is your last resort if water is in your suit you can lean down and use this to breathe, Bolinger said.

The space agency also installed absorptive pads in the back of each helmet, which will soak up any water that shows up like a sponge. The spacewalkers have been trained to tilt their heads back periodically to test the pad, she said; if it sucks up around 6 and a half ounces of water, it will feel squishy -- a sure sign of trouble.

Thats a sign there is a problem in the EMU and its time to come inside, Bolinger said.

The absorptive pads were designed on the ground and shipped up to the space station in a recent cargo craft. But while waiting for their arrival, NASAs engineers looked at other ways to MacGyver towels from material on board the space station: space diapers.

Read more:
Snorkels in Space

Posted in Space Station | Comments Off on Snorkels in Space

NASA plans spacewalks to repair International Space Station

Posted: at 4:46 pm

After an exhaustive effort to come up with a workaround to fix a balky valve in one of the International Space Station's two coolant loops, NASA managers decided Tuesday to change gears and press ahead with at least two and possibly three spacewalks to replace a refrigerator-size ammonia pump module.

Astronauts Rick Mastracchio, a spacewalk veteran, and first-time flier Mike Hopkins are scheduled to begin the first spacewalk, or EVA, Saturday around 7:10 a.m. EST (GMT-5). The second EVA is planned for Monday with the third, if necessary, on Christmas day.

The decision to carry out multiple spacewalks to repair coolant loop A means a delay for the planned launch of an Orbital Sciences Corp. Antares rocket carrying the company's Cygnus cargo capsule. Orbital engineers rolled the rocket to its seaside pad at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Island, Va., flight facility early Tuesday for a possible launch try Thursday night.

The flight now will be put on hold until next month.

"Orbital Sciences Cygnus spacecraft, atop its Antares rocket, now will launch no earlier than Jan. 13," NASA said in a statement. "The postponement of the Antares launch will allow ample time for the station crew to focus on repairing a faulty pump module that stopped working properly on Dec. 11."

While the station's six-member crew is not in any danger because of the coolant system problem, research activities have been curtailed and, more important, the lab has lost redundancy in a critical system. If a problem took down coolant loop B, the crew could be forced to evacuate and return to Earth aboard their Soyuz ferry craft.

"Our best position to be in is to have both those loops up and running and available to us," Kenny Todd, a senior space station manager at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, said earlier. "While we're sitting at one loop, I think we're somewhat vulnerable, and so clearly, from a program perspective, our intention would be to move sooner rather than later to recover that functionality."

The space station is equipped with two independent external coolant loops that use ammonia to dissipate the heat generated by the lab's electrical systems. Cooling is critical for station operations and while one loop can support critical systems and keep the lab operational, both are needed to avoid powerdowns of non-essential equipment.

The problem with coolant loop A developed last week when the flow control valve inside the station's starboard/loop A ammonia pump module malfunctioned, allowing the temperature of the coolant to drop below safety limits.

That did not affect loop A's ability to cool major electrical components mounted in the station's solar power truss. But to carry away heat generated by systems inside the station's habitable modules, where ammonia is not allowed, the coolant must flow through "interface heat exchangers" where it picks up heat carried by water that flows through cold plates where electrical gear is mounted.

See original here:
NASA plans spacewalks to repair International Space Station

Posted in Space Station | Comments Off on NASA plans spacewalks to repair International Space Station

Space station may need emergency spacewalk if software patch fails (+video)

Posted: at 4:46 pm

A faulty pump means the space station might have to scrap a scheduled resupply to perform an emergency spacewalk. NASA hopes a temporary fix will allow the resupply to go ahead.

NASA engineers appear to have found a way to restore a balky coolant pump on the International Space Station that may allow a station resupply mission to launch this week, as planned.

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition

The alternative is to delay the launch to allow two ISS crew members to conduct two or three emergency spacewalks starting this weekend to replace the faulty pump.

Spare pumps are stored on the space station's truss scaffolding the length of a football field. The truss supports the station's solar panels, radiators for station cooling, and other utilities, including two external cooling loops that transfer heat to the radiators.

The cooling-system malfunction on the space station occurred Dec. 11. Controllers noticed unusually low temperatures in ammonia circulating through one of the cooling loops. Left unchecked, the chilled coolant could have frozen water flowing through a heat exchanger inside the station.

That could have damaged the exchanger and leaked ammonia into the station, said Judd Frieling, the lead flight director for Expedition 38, the space station's current increment, during a televised update Tuesday.

Controllers were able to reroute cooling to the second external loop, but the transfer meant the crew had to shut down nonessential equipment in order to reduce the heating load on the second loop.

Engineers traced the problem to a malfunctioning valve designed to adjust the flow of coolant. The coolant's temperature should remain within an optimum range for cooling the station's interior and some of its exterior hardware.

Original post:
Space station may need emergency spacewalk if software patch fails (+video)

Posted in Space Station | Comments Off on Space station may need emergency spacewalk if software patch fails (+video)

Duck Dynasty Suspension Isn't About Free Speech

Posted: at 4:46 pm

Cable TV, thank God, is not the government.

Sigh. I cant believe we have to explain this, over and over, every time a media figure loses a job (or just gets a for-show suspension) over saying something stupid, but: Losing your job for saying something that embarrasses your private employereven if that is a media outletis not a free speech issue. It is not a First Amendment issue. It may be dumb, it may be justified, but it is not a constitutional violation. It is not for Phil Robertson, Alec Baldwin, Martin Bashir, Don Imus, The Dixie Chicks, Rush Limbaugh, or anyone else. People changing the channel or not buying your products because of what you said is not censorship; nor is losing a business deal for same.

Cable TV is not the government, thank God. But apparently some politicians both inside and outside the government could stand to reread the First Amendment.

See the original post here:
Duck Dynasty Suspension Isn't About Free Speech

Posted in Free Speech | Comments Off on Duck Dynasty Suspension Isn't About Free Speech

Space station may need emergency spacewalk if software patch fails

Posted: at 4:46 pm

A faulty pump means the space station might have to scrap a scheduled resupply to perform an emergency spacewalk. NASA hopes a temporary fix will allow the resupply to go ahead.

NASA engineers appear to have found a way to restore a balky coolant pump on the International Space Station that may allow a station resupply mission to launch this week, as planned.

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition

The alternative is to delay the launch to allow two ISS crew members to conduct two or three emergency spacewalks starting this weekend to replace the faulty pump.

Spare pumps are stored on the space station's truss scaffolding the length of a football field. The truss supports the station's solar panels, radiators for station cooling, and other utilities, including two external cooling loops that transfer heat to the radiators.

The cooling-system malfunction on the space station occurred Dec. 11. Controllers noticed unusually low temperatures in ammonia circulating through one of the cooling loops. Left unchecked, the chilled coolant could have frozen water flowing through a heat exchanger inside the station.

That could have damaged the exchanger and leaked ammonia into the station, said Judd Frieling, the lead flight director for Expedition 38, the space station's current increment, during a televised update Tuesday.

Controllers were able to reroute cooling to the second external loop, but the transfer meant the crew had to shut down nonessential equipment in order to reduce the heating load on the second loop.

Engineers traced the problem to a malfunctioning valve designed to adjust the flow of coolant. The coolant's temperature should remain within an optimum range for cooling the station's interior and some of its exterior hardware.

See original here:
Space station may need emergency spacewalk if software patch fails

Posted in Space Station | Comments Off on Space station may need emergency spacewalk if software patch fails

Tim Wilson's appointment to Human Rights Commission has nothing to do with 'rebalancing'

Posted: at 4:46 pm

'Wilson is singularly under-credentialled when it comes to what's really going on in the free-speech marketplace.' Photo: Wayne Taylor

Chris Berg must be livid.

He's the man who's done the heavy lifting on free speech at the Institute of Public Affairs and authored the official text, In Defence of Freedom of Speech (subtitle: From Ancient Greece to Andrew Bolt).

Instead, Attorney-General George Brandis appoints Tim Wilson, the institute's policy director, to the Human Rights Commission with particular focus on free speech and everyone's right to hold opinions.

Advertisement

Well, here's my opinion.

Wilson is singularly under-credentialled when it comes to what's really going on in the free-speech marketplace. His utterances since his appointment was announced show a slender grasp of the issues at stake and his outpourings beforehand are a collection of corporate-inspired outrages about government trying to protect the health and welfare of society.

He decries restrictions on cigarette advertising and the plain packaging legislation (a free-speech issue for the tobacco industry), attempted regulations on poker machines, taxes on alcohol, moves to control the intake of fatty and sugary foods, and banning tanning beds.

All of this, in Wilson's view, is paternalistic nonsense, along with global warming and the tax on carbon. Let the market rip and allow people to gamble, smoke, drink, get fat and artificially tanned until frizzled. No doubt these views are genuinely and passionately held and, entirely coincidentally, they are held by the corporate sponsors of the Institute of Public Affairs.

We don't know for sure, because the institute is so keen on free speech that it won't share with us who is paying the piper, but it seems to run along the lines of a massive cash-for-comment machine.

Continue reading here:
Tim Wilson's appointment to Human Rights Commission has nothing to do with 'rebalancing'

Posted in Free Speech | Comments Off on Tim Wilson's appointment to Human Rights Commission has nothing to do with 'rebalancing'

The PM's two-fingered salute

Posted: at 4:46 pm

'Wilson is singularly under-credentialled when it comes to what's really going on in the free-speech marketplace.' Photo: Wayne Taylor

Chris Berg must be livid.

He's the man who's done the heavy lifting on free speech at the Institute of Public Affairs and authored the official text, In Defence of Freedom of Speech (subtitle: From Ancient Greece to Andrew Bolt).

Instead, Attorney-General George Brandis appoints Tim Wilson, the institute's policy director, to the Human Rights Commission with particular focus on free speech and everyone's right to hold opinions.

Advertisement

Well, here's my opinion.

Wilson is singularly under-credentialled when it comes to what's really going on in the free-speech marketplace. His utterances since his appointment was announced show a slender grasp of the issues at stake and his outpourings beforehand are a collection of corporate-inspired outrages about government trying to protect the health and welfare of society.

He decries restrictions on cigarette advertising and the plain packaging legislation (a free-speech issue for the tobacco industry), attempted regulations on poker machines, taxes on alcohol, moves to control the intake of fatty and sugary foods, and banning tanning beds.

All of this, in Wilson's view, is paternalistic nonsense, along with global warming and the tax on carbon. Let the market rip and allow people to gamble, smoke, drink, get fat and artificially tanned until frizzled. No doubt these views are genuinely and passionately held and, entirely coincidentally, they are held by the corporate sponsors of the Institute of Public Affairs.

We don't know for sure, because the institute is so keen on free speech that it won't share with us who is paying the piper, but it seems to run along the lines of a massive cash-for-comment machine.

Read more from the original source:
The PM's two-fingered salute

Posted in Free Speech | Comments Off on The PM's two-fingered salute

'Duck Dynasty': Free speech isn't the issue

Posted: at 4:46 pm

CAPTIONS

The Robertson family c (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times /February 27, 2013)

In making controversial comments about gays and blacks, "Duck Dynasty" patriarch Phil Robertson reduced his appeal and possibly his audience.

Some may complain that Robertson's suspension by A&E is an issue of free speech, but it's actually one of marketing and contracts.

"Duck Dynasty" has always seemed a funny and well-produced reality series about a loving family.

But Robertson's comments to GQ magazine cast a shadow over the enterprise. Did he realize he was alienating the show's gay and black fans? Is it wise to tell potential viewers that they'll be denied the Kingdom of Heaven?

It's not good business, to put it mildly. People under contract on television are not supposed to drive away viewers. With the suspension, I presume A&E was trying to impress on Robertson the blunder he'd made. But does the family care?

After his punishment, the Robertson family issued a statement. "While some of Phil's unfiltered comments to the reporter were coarse, his beliefs are grounded in the teachings of the Bible," that statement read.

And what of the future of "Duck Dynasty"?

The statement reads: "We are disappointed that Phil has been placed on hiatus for expressing his faith, which is his constitutionally protected right. We have had a successful working relationship with A&E but, as a family, we cannot imagine the show going forward without our patriarch at the helm. We are in discussions with A&E to see what that means for the future of 'Duck Dynasty.' "

Visit link:
'Duck Dynasty': Free speech isn't the issue

Posted in Free Speech | Comments Off on 'Duck Dynasty': Free speech isn't the issue

Quack attack: Late night hosts, celebs react to 'Duck Dynasty' scandal

Posted: at 4:46 pm

TV

Maria Elena Fernandez TODAY

1 hour ago

If free speech is at the heart of the "Duck Dynasty" controversy, which resulted in the suspension of patriarch Phil Robertson after he expressed his anti-gay views in an interview, celebrities are not being shy about exercising their First Amendment rights.

Some of them are even siding with the Duck Commander in their own special way that is, sarcasm.

"As a student of history one of the things weve learned is that the mightiest dynasties eventually crumble, said Jon Stewart on Thursday night's "The Daily Show," before joking that he thought "Duck Dynasty" was a show about ducks re-enacting "Dynasty" and he thinks it would have a "huge gay audience."

"Look, I think what the guy said is ignorant but I also have an inclination to support a world where saying ignorant (expletive) on television doesn't get you kicked off that medium," he added later.

His partner in crime, of course, had more to say on "The Colbert Report."

"This is a terrible day for Americans though admittedly a great day for ducks," Stephen Colbert said on his Comedy Central show Thursday before he sported a beard like the Duck Commander. "I'll admit it's not the eloquent speech you might expect from a backwoods Louisiana bird murderer but he does have a point: the vagina does have more there. Face it, it's a trainwreck. Who knows what's going on with that business?"

Colbert ended by expressing sympathy for A&E: "With this controversy, they may have just lost 'Duck Dynastys' massive black and gay audience."

Read the original post:
Quack attack: Late night hosts, celebs react to 'Duck Dynasty' scandal

Posted in Free Speech | Comments Off on Quack attack: Late night hosts, celebs react to 'Duck Dynasty' scandal

Boedeker: 'Duck Dynasty': Free speech isn't the issue

Posted: at 4:46 pm

CAPTIONS

The Robertson family c (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times /February 27, 2013)

In making controversial comments about gays and blacks, "Duck Dynasty" patriarch Phil Robertson reduced his appeal and possibly his audience.

Some may complain that Robertson's suspension by A&E is an issue of free speech, but it's actually one of marketing and contracts.

"Duck Dynasty" has always seemed a funny and well-produced reality series about a loving family.

But Robertson's comments to GQ magazine cast a shadow over the enterprise. Did he realize he was alienating the show's gay and black fans? Is it wise to tell potential viewers that they'll be denied the Kingdom of Heaven?

It's not good business, to put it mildly. People under contract on television are not supposed to drive away viewers. With the suspension, I presume A&E was trying to impress on Robertson the blunder he'd made. But does the family care?

After his punishment, the Robertson family issued a statement. "While some of Phil's unfiltered comments to the reporter were coarse, his beliefs are grounded in the teachings of the Bible," that statement read.

And what of the future of "Duck Dynasty"?

The statement reads: "We are disappointed that Phil has been placed on hiatus for expressing his faith, which is his constitutionally protected right. We have had a successful working relationship with A&E but, as a family, we cannot imagine the show going forward without our patriarch at the helm. We are in discussions with A&E to see what that means for the future of 'Duck Dynasty.' "

Read the original here:
Boedeker: 'Duck Dynasty': Free speech isn't the issue

Posted in Free Speech | Comments Off on Boedeker: 'Duck Dynasty': Free speech isn't the issue