Right everyone, get your eyeballs wrapped around this epic article by Pete!http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2012/10/iss-program-spacewalks-repair-power-channel-faults-station/
This, to me (as I have been harping about it for some time) is an important note: "The leaking PVTCS RVR could potentially be replaced in future with a spare radiator located on ExPrESS Logistics Carrier-4 (ELC-4), which was launched on STS-133 in February 2011, however that is the only spare radiator aboard the ISS, and with the Space Shuttle now retired, no vehicles currently in service or even on the drawing board are capable of launching additional spare radiators, due to their large size."Let's hope (maybe pray), there is no need of the spare radiator, or the station would be at the mercy of lack of available spares for conducting science at current utilization (note I didn't say 'full').
Thanks for the compliments Dappa, robertross and Prober - it means a lot. (And thanks to Downrange for the typo - will get it corrected.) I must also thank anik for posting the very timely info in the first place. I agree the situation regarding a lack of spare radiator launch capability is bad - although Elon Musk is on record as saying that he will enlarge the Dragon trunk to suit any of NASA's needs if required - but quite how he would do that is unknown. I don't even know if there are any spare radiators on the ground - I wonder what the lead time for manufacturing one is, even if it did have a ride up to the ISS.
I wonder if they could somehow remove the other EETCS radiator from the P6 Truss and replace the leaky radiator with that?
QuoteI wonder if they could somehow remove the other EETCS radiator from the P6 Truss and replace the leaky radiator with that?I don't know about that...I doubt there is commonality in the design, but we'll leave that to the experts.
Quote from: robertross on 10/22/2012 12:26 amQuoteI wonder if they could somehow remove the other EETCS radiator from the P6 Truss and replace the leaky radiator with that?I don't know about that...I doubt there is commonality in the design, but we'll leave that to the experts.The EETCS radiators are actually identical to the PVTCS radiators.
I have forgotten to say: according to Robert Navias, there will be only one unscheduled spacewalk in November because the problem with DCSU 3A has been successfully resolved.
Suni & Aki joined up for a 3-hr review of preliminary EVA-20 objectives, procedures and requirements, including study of the on-orbit QD (quick disconnect) trainer for a refresher course on FQDs (Fluid QDs) carrying NH3 (Ammonia) coolant. [EVA-20 will focus on the 2B power channel and the ammonia leak in the P6 truss. The data shows the leak in the loop has accelerated, and that channel could be off-line by the end of the year if the leak trend continues. Objectives of the 6h30m spacewalk on 11/1 include EAS (Early Ammonia System) jumper reconfigurations, demating the FQDC (Flight Quick Disconnect Coupling) of the 2B PVR (Photovoltaic Radiator), removal & stowage of the TTCR shroud, plus release & deployment of TTCR, with photography and contingency time.]
http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/home/spacenews/files/102512_tma06m_docking.html"The day after the Progress launch, on Nov. 1, Williams and Hoshide plan to carry out a complex six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk to bypass an ammonia leak in the coolant system of the station's far left-side set of solar arrays. The system circulates ammonia through a large radiator to dissipate heat, and if the leak isn't resolved soon, the station could lose one of its power channels.As it turns out, the port-six set of solar arrays includes spare radiators that were used during the early stages of station construction. Williams and Hoshide plan to install jumpers that will route ammonia to one of the currently stowed spare radiators, bypassing components that may be responsible for the leak. The radiator then will be redeployed to restore normal cooling"
