How serious is the ISS solar panel tear?

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willpittenger

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Now I am confused. Others have said the panels are as flexible as paper. But you suggest otherwise by stating the cells provide rigidity. Also, where is the tear relative to the nearest fold? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>
 
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willpittenger

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<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>3. There is a debate whether "duck" was the proper word since the tape was first used for water proofing.<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br />Interesting.<br /><br />BTW: <font color="yellow">Never, ever</font>use duct (or duck) tape on your home's or office's HVAC system. The adhesive will fail due to the heat. Use foil tape instead. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>
 
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bobw

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When it was first deployed about 7 years ago It had been stored folded for years and years before launch and the panels stuck together. When they deployed it this time it did not stick because it had not been folded for years and years.<br /><br />Think of the stuff that has the wiring on the heads for a DVD player: flexible, translucent, it bends as the heads move. Glue on solar cells, put in hinges, it won't just roll around any more it will fold at the hinges.<br /><br />It tore right along where the hinge attaches to the kapton holding the cells. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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mi2again

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The tear is on a fold/hinge. I said some rigidity. They still are flexible
 
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willpittenger

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I am starting to understand. However, why did the array tear now rather than when it was deployed at Z1? You said that was when it stuck. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>
 
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bobw

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I don't know why it tore. I can't help thinking that pointing it at the sun for 7 years probably stiffened it up some from cross linking the molecules or something. Get a piece of that brightly colored nylon rope that ties up boats and stuff and leave it out in the sun for 7 years and see what you are left with. Old rock climbing slings that you find on a climb, too. Faded, weak. UV damages plastic pretty bad. <br /><br />They said the silicone lubricant on the guide wires was eroded by atomic oxygen causing the sticking on retraction. Space is a rough environment. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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comga

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3. I ask because the stores that used to sell duct tape, are now selling duck tape.) "<br /><br />3. There is a debate whether "duck" was the proper word since the tape was first used for water proofing<br /><br />I never understood this until I saw the movie "The In-Laws" where Alan Arkin (IIRC) retrieves the counterfeit dollar bill printing plates from the heating duct by removing some DUCT TAPE. It says so on the roll on which it comes when you bought it. You did buy some duct tape, didn't you? It doesn't really say DUCK tape, does it?
 
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scottb50

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Actually there is Duck tape. A Duct tape knockoff. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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docm

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"duct tape is like The Force – it has a light side and a dark side, and it binds the Universe together"<br />- Carl Zwanzig<br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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drwayne

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Ironically, the tape that is frequently used for professionally taping ducts is not what we normally think of as duct tape - it is a more metallic product.<br /><br />They call that duct tape too.<br /><br />Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>
 
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mi2again

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"It says so on the roll on which it comes when you bought it. You did buy some duct tape, didn't you? It doesn't really say DUCK tape, does it?"<br /><br />Yes, some says DUCK tape. Look it up. There are two schools of though as to the original name. The tape's use on ducting was never a strong point
 
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vulture2

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>>3. There is a debate whether "duck" was the proper word since the tape was first used for water proofing<br /><br />The original name was "duck tape" but not because it was waterproof. It was made with unpolymerized latex applied to a fabric called "cotton duck" (from the Dutch "doek", a linen canvas). <br /><br />It was originally used for sealing ammunition boxes in WWII. It was later used for heating/cooling ducts but is not ideal for this because it has a limited lifetime and doesn't tolerate extreme temperatures. It was highly flammable and required a waiver to carry on the Shuttle. The kapton tape is safer.
 
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observer7

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When I was in the Army we called it 100MPH tape. No confusion that way <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em><font size="2">"Time exists so that everything doesn't happen at once" </font></em><font size="2">Albert Einstein</font> </div>
 
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usn_skwerl

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thats what we called it too, but in civilian world, its "speed tape."<br /><br />"speed tape" just doesnt have as nice of a ring to it though..... <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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R1

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all interesting <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /><br /><br /><br />but anyway, if the cost and trouble of having a spare panel stored is prohibitive,<br /> can't we start using small thermal-nuclear <br />generators yet either (such as the ones on the Voyagers)?<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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mi2again

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"but anyway, if the cost and trouble of having a spare panel stored is prohibitive,<br />can't we start using small thermal-nuclear<br />generators yet either (such as the ones on the Voyagers)?"<br /><br />Exactly the opposite thing to do if you want to avoid "cost and trouble). Also the power output is low
 
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tplank

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"Duck Tape" is a brand of duct tape. Apparently, it goes way back . <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>The Disenfranchised Curmudgeon</p><p>http://tonyplank.blogspot.com/ </p> </div>
 
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mi2again

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Correction. I was in error. The hinge is a hinge and not a fold. It is like a door hinge but continuous for the whole width of the panel. part of two hinges came undone. Was thinking of another array type
 
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MeteorWayne

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OMG, Jim admitted an error?<br /><br />Armegeddon is at hand!!! <br /><br />My respoct-o-meter just went up a notch <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>
 
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willpittenger

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How much electricity would be involved if the spacewalker touches the wrong part of the array? Enough to be fatal? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>
 
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leicsmark

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hello everyone!<br /><br />I have been reading this forum for about 7 years now! and i thought it was time to register and get involved!<br />Ive been following the solar panel story, I hope the repair goes well. <br /><br />after looking at the picture, does it look to anyone that there is a second tear in the panel to the right of the current one?
 
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JonClarke

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Only if there is a short circuit, I would have thought.<br /><br />Jon <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>
 
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willpittenger

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Well, the spacewalker would be grounded to the station structure. But I don't know if the structure is grounded somehow. Also, since I put that post up, I saw a report somewhere that the array had 100-140 volts. No mention of the amperage involved. (You can survive a "hit" from millions of volts without a problem as at such voltage, the current moves around its conductors rather than through them.)<br /><br />Finally, if such a shock happens, could the arm's electronics be damaged? It might not be able to bring the spacewalker back. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>
 
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