ISS: Space station's cooling system leaking ammonia

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News

Astronauts on the International Space Station are dealing with a leak in the orbiting platform's cooling system.

The crew spotted particles of ammonia drifting away from the laboratory on Thursday.

Liquid ammonia is used to extract the heat that builds up in electronic systems, dumping that excess energy to space through an array of radiators.

Nasa says the crew is in no danger, but that a spacewalk may be needed to inspect the site of the leak.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22478364

[jakeXT]

1. As long as it's leaking outside, the smell inside would have been unbearable /nt

[dipsydoodle]

2. Clears your head though.

[liberal N proud]

3. Too bad we have no shuttle to go fix it.

That was a brilliant move!

[leftyohiolib]

4. arent there people there already to fix it

[randome]

5. What if they can't? What if there is an explosion?

Do we have any plans for that eventuality? Rescue teams ready to spring into action at a moment's notice? Because if not, it's inevitable, I think, that a tragedy will occur.

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[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
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[RT Atlanta]

7. 2 Soyuz docked to ISS

There is emergency protocol for the crews to evacuate ISS, separate and make an emergency departure from ISS in the Soyuz if something catastrophic happens.

Live feed to the astronauts' prep for the spacewalk:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/iss_ustream.html

[sofa king]

8. Yep.

There is always one three-person lifeboat aboard, plus the three-person crew transfer vehicle that brought the second crew up. There's always a seat for everyone, but that does not necessarily mean that in the event of a catastrophe everyone--or anyone--would make it to the Soyuzes.

The idea of emergency escape from space pre-dated manned spaceflight itself, not unlike Leonardo da Vinci anticipated the need for a parachute 250 years before the Mongolfiers floated high enough to actually need one. Some of the designs look to have offered some of the wildest rides humans have ever taken:

http://www.astronautix.com/craft/paracone.htm
http://www.astronautix.com/craft/firlider.htm
http://www.astronautix.com/craft/moose.htm
http://www.astronautix.com/craft/saver.htm -- The Montgolfiers would have appreciated this one.

Elon Musk seems to have noticed one 6-person design in particular:

http://www.astronautix.com/craft/advm1961.htm

Which in turn appears to have heavily influenced the design of the Dragon capsule:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_%28spacecraft%29

[leftyohiolib]

9. what if , what if what if

[AtheistCrusader]

10. No, NASA hasn't planned for any of that. We just put a bunch of people in a big trebuchet and hucked

them up there with no plan, no supplies, and no way to get home.

If there was a fucking explosion that threatened the platform, the story would be over before an orbiter could be rolled to the launch site and prepped, to say nothing of a launch window.

[Posteritatis]

12. Reality is not mediocre science fiction movies. (nt)

[greiner3]

6. "ISS: Space station's cooling system leaking ammonia"

My first thought to the OP's headline was the 'urine bags' broke.

[christx30]

11. Mine was that someone,

and I'm not naming names here (Gary) didn't scoop out the ISS's litterbox (even though it was your turn and I did the dishes last night. Plus your rent was 3 days late.)