[FPSPACE] ISS Life Support Now "No-Fault Tolerant" (Next Failure Means Evacuation)?

[Dale Gray]

The media is really pushing this, but the crew has 14 - 21 days of chemical
CO2 scrubbers and the air purification system does have a back-up (of
sorts). The way I understand the situation, the Vozdukh microcompressor fan
assembly failed soon after activation.  A replacement unit proved unusable
because of a bad electrical connector.  The crew then used their last spare
to get the CO2 scrubber going. However, there is no doubt in my mind that if
the third microcompressor fan assembly failed, the crew could and would be
able to fix the electrical connector on the bad second fan assembly.  They
even could do that now by cannibalizing the connector off the first assembly
(assuming that isn't what went wrong with it in the first place).  Of
course, they would have to find the spare time to put in the fix, but a
failure would move the repair up in priority.

By the way, when was the Progress mission cancelled?  According to my launch
schedule we passed the launch date and I heard nothing.  So I must have
missed the earlier cancellation announcement.

Dale Gray

> From: JamesOberg@aol.com
> Date: Sat, 16 Dec 2000 12:59:25 EST
> To: fpspace@friends-partners.org
> Subject: [FPSPACE] ISS Life Support Now "No-Fault Tolerant" (Next Failure
> Means Evacuation)?
> 
> NASA: "We weren't counting on multiple failures." JimO: What was it they said
> they had learned from Russian experience? Boy, do we miss the cargo on that
> cancelled Progress mission now.
> 
> http://spaceflightnow.com/ops/stage4a/001216scrubber/
> 
> Station crew awaits spare parts for air scrubber  //  December 16, 2000
> BY WILLIAM HARWOOD, SPACEFLIGHT NOW
> The international space station's air purification system is working
> smoothly, NASA's lead flight director said Friday. But unexpected equipment
> failures during the crew's first six weeks in space have left the astronauts
> just one failure away from a possible forced evacuation.
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