Time Peake space walk and panel change

[large_ghostman]

So Time peake is on TV changing a faulty electrical panel outside the station. From what I understand it there is a faulty relay so they are swapping the complete unit out, ok its in space but come on!! Tim if you really want to impress lets see you fault find the panel and solder a new relay in while outside the space station. Really sorry but I find it as impressive as changing a washing machine control unit because the washing machine dosnt spin!!

Maybe I am being harsh but changing panel worth all that attention and awe? Lets partition to see him solder in space and fault find the panel , oh and lets sack the idiot that thought using a relay was a good idea .

 

[JimB]

LG I am not sure what to say here.
Either this post is written tongue in cheek with a "the devil made me say it" outlook, or it is one of the most arrogant and technically ignorant of real world engineering that I have seen in a long time.

From what I understand it there is a faulty relay so they are swapping the complete unit out, ok its in space but come on!!

It is called "1st Line Maintenance", it is usual to repair a system by replacing a faulty unit with a fully tested working spare. The person performing the maintenance task may not be an electronics specialist and time may be of the essence to get the system working as quickly as possible.

Tim if you really want to impress lets see you fault find the panel and solder a new relay in while outside the space station.

OK wonderboy, lets zip you up in a space suit and see you solder something here on Earth.

Really sorry but I find it as impressive as changing a washing machine control unit because the washing machine dosnt spin!!

Same principle, fix it with a known working spare module.

oh and lets sack the idiot that thought using a relay was a good idea

I assume that you mean an electromechanical relay. Do you know that the problem really it is one of those?
There may be very good reasons for using an electromechanical relay rather than some solid state device.

JimB

 

[jpanhalt]

Has it been shown that one can solder in microgravity? If the connection is crimped, uncrimping is difficult even on Earth.

John

 

[cowboybob]

Look's like they get to play in the dark with flash lights for a bit...

Peake is the guy with the British accent, right... ? .

As for soldering up there, who can estimate how many watts would be needed to keep a soldering pencil hot enough in -157C temps (during earth shadow).

 

[jpanhalt]

Probably not many watts required to keep temperature. It is a vacuum. The filament in a vacuum tube glows with very few watts.

My concern centered on whether surface tension and lack of gravity would make the solder ball up. Yes, adhesion and surface tension also play into the spread of molten solder and its wetting of the parts, but has soldering actually been tested in space? I have done overhead soldering for plumbing, but I am not sure that is a good model for microgravity.

John

 

[JimB]

Peake is the guy with the British accent, right... ? .

Yes, the guy is getting a lot of attention in the UK media, makes an unnerving change from the usual vacuous "celebrities" who are usually in receipt of their sycophantic attention.
JimB

 

[cowboybob]

Probably not many watts required to keep temperature. It is a vacuum. The filament in a vacuum tube glows with very few watts.

And yet the glass envelope gets quite hot.

Heat traverses (from higher to lower temp) a vacuum by means of infrared radiation.

 

[large_ghostman]

Nah Jim it was purely a joke, but now its been mentioned how cool an experiment to see if you can solder in space!! I just found it funny that its such a big deal in space but had it been back on earth and Tim had done it on TV everyone would have gone Meah .

I watched it start to finish, and all I could think was try and solder smd in those gloves lol, but lay your mind at rest, it was purely tongue in cheek.

 

[JimB]

but lay your mind at rest, it was purely tongue in cheek.

OK, I can handle that!
JimB

 

[large_ghostman]

What actually triggered the post was the female reporter who had clearly just read a scrap of paper and knowingly said " Tim Peake is about to replace the relay control board", I had an instant vision of Tim unscrewing the panel plate and a tiny blue ebay cheapo relay looking back at him!

I dont know if anyone watched it but its incredible what was involved to do what would be such a simple task on earth. I think both Tims were involved and the whole thing had to be done in sync, I doubt if I would have taken my eyes off the view long enough to do it.

I have been watching alot of the coverage and a couple of things have made me suck air in lol, like him demonstrating drinking a large drop of water floating around. Just above the drop was a large electric panel lol I sat there thinking DONT MISS DONT MISS lol

 

[alec_t]

The guys had 31 mins to do the repair, apparently, while the station was in darkness. Sunlight would otherwise have energised the solar panels and resulted in lots of volts/amps to cope with. Even on terra firma it could have been a challenge to do the fix in that short time by soldering components!

 

[cowboybob]

I watched it to the end and they ended up being pulled from the second task (an over pressure valve replacement or something) because Tim Kopra noticed some water coming into his helmet.

Mission control went into "Get'em inside NOW" mode. Everything worked out OK although the source of the water is still a mystery.

Very interesting watching the whole process of getting the guys out of their EVA suits. Also how closely ground personnel coordinate and direct.

The replacement power controller worked like a charm.

 

[large_ghostman]

I watched it to the end and they ended up being pulled from the second task (an over pressure valve replacement or something) because Tim Kopra noticed some water coming into his helmet.

Mission control went into "Get'em inside NOW" mode. Everything worked out OK although the source of the water is still a mystery.

Very interesting watching the whole process of getting the guys out of their EVA suits. Also how closely ground personnel coordinate and direct.

The replacement power controller worked like a charm.

Its no mystery, he nearly slipped and weed himself lol. I am pretty sure mt suit would of been filled with 'water'. Its amazing how huge the station has got since it was first built!

I know they have fixed something to hubble to bring it down safely into the ocean, I wouldnt mind taking the boat out that day . incredible engineering when you think about it. I hope the new little blue Chinese relay holds up .

Given the choice I would rather see the money spent on a moon bio dome, doubt thats ever going to happen though.

 

[Overclocked]

Has it been shown that one can solder in microgravity? If the connection is crimped, uncrimping is difficult even on Earth.

John

I Know Im late replying to this, but I found something interesting on that subject.

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/634.html

 

[4pyros]

I would be deathly afraid of soldering in zero gravity if one of those solder blobs could melt through my space suit.

 

[jpanhalt]

Those pictures are enlightening. At least the solder pulls a little along the wire. I would have liked to see whether an SMD would ''float" into place by surface tension.
John

 

[large_ghostman]

Incredible when you watch the program about the amount of training that goes into simple things like putting a screw in. I watched a program that indicated the cooling system on the suits is a problem due to leaks, apparently the new generation of suits are not considered.idea. The program was by Professor Brian Cox, if I find it online I will post a link.

You cant have a messy bench in space so the job has lost its appeal for me