U.S. Spacewalks Halted During Some Testing

[drwayne]

SPACE CENTER, Houston - Officials have halted U.S. spacewalks until they can test the strength of handrails that line the U.S. part of the space station and are used to anchor the spacewalkers.<br /> <br />Space station managers said Wednesday they discovered some odd bubbling on the interior of some handrails that are still on the ground.<br /><br />It isn't known whether any of the problematic handrails were installed on the station, but that's a chance officials weren't willing to take, said Kirk Shireman, deputy station program manager.<br /><br />"Because we couldn't be sure, we were being conservative," he said.<br /><br />Shireman said he doesn't believe any of the dozens of handrails at the station will have to be replaced.<br /><br />The news comes at a time when Russian spacewalks also have been put on hold because four canisters needed to rid carbon dioxide from the air spacewalkers breathe can't be located on the station.<br /><br />"We do lose things occasionally on board the space station," Shireman said. "There are little nooks and crannies and oh by the way, things don't stay where you put them. They float away."<br /><br />Rest of the story:<br /><br />Yahoo Link <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>"1) Give no quarter; 2) Take no prisoners; 3) Sink everything."  Admiral Jackie Fisher</p> </div>

 

[erioladastra]

We spent months looking for a thermal control pump module - about the size of a small beer keg. You wouldn't think something like that could be hard to find but it was! <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />