ARISS School Group Contact Falls Victim to Space Station Air Leak
NEWINGTON, CT, Jan 12, 2004--NASA has postponed an Amateur
Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)
school group contact as the space agency and station crew continued efforts to
pin down the source of an apparent air leak on board the ISS. Students at Armstrong
Middle School in Flint, Michigan, were scheduled to speak with Expedition 8
commander Mike Foale, KB5UAC, at NA1SS early today. News reports early today indicated
that officials are fairly certain that Foale was able to locate the leak in the
US Destiny Lab module. NASA has not yet confirmed this, but the space agency
says the crew is in no danger from the pressure drop.
 Expedition 8 Commander Mike Foale, KB5UAC (left),
celebrated his 47th birthday January 7, while Flight Engineer Sasha Kaleri,
U8MIR, observed the Russian Orthodox Christmas on January 8. Both conducted
troubleshooting efforts last week to assist ground engineers analyzing a small
decay in the station atmospheric pressure.
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"The
pressure decay poses no threat to the crew's safety or to the continued
operation of the station and its systems," NASA said in a routine ISS
status report. "The changes in pressure do not present a concern for the
health of the crew." NASA said the pressure drop appears to have begun
December 22, and Russian and US engineers have been working with the crew since
then to investigate its cause.
Reuters today quoted a NASA official in Moscow as saying
that a
leak in a flexible hose in a window of the Destiny Lab was the most likely
culprit. The hose reportedly helps keep air and condensation out of the Destiny
module's windows. Citing Russian space officials, Agence France Presse
today reported that Foale and flight engineer Alex "Sasha" Kaleri, U8MIR, had sealed
off the US laboratory module for at least 24 hours in the wake of the
discovery.
NASA's January 9 ISS status report indicated that, despite
the leak-detection activities, engineers "are not certain the fluctuation and
slight decline in pressure aboard the station is the result of a leak from the
complex."
The decline in air pressure amounts to only a few
hundredths of a pound per square inch (psi) day, NASA said. "The decay in
pressure over the past few weeks aboard the station has amounted to a decrease
from the normal pressure of 14.7 psi, a pressure equivalent to sea level on
Earth," NASA said, "to a pressure today of about 14 psi, a pressure equivalent
to the normal air pressure in Oklahoma City."
NASA says Foale and Kaleri last week checked a variety of
valves and seals throughout the station using an ultrasonic leak detection
system but were unable to locate a leak. Flight controllers in Russia and the
US announced plans late last week to possibly have the crew periodically shut
off portions of the station to check if any element within them could be the
source of a leak.
Flight
controllers also had been mulling plans to feed more nitrogen into the ISS atmosphere
"to increase the overall air pressure and maintain the cabin atmosphere in the
optimal range for the operation of equipment aboard the complex," NASA said.
ARISS team member Scott Lindsey-Stevens, N3ASA, said ARISS
"looks forward to the ISS crew's resumption of their inspiring conversations
with the schools."
Page last modified: 12:48 PM, 12 Jan 2004 ET
Page author: awextra@arrl.org
Copyright © 2004, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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