Author Topic: Possible ammonia leak inside the ISS - January 14th 2015 (Read 71282 times)

Targeteer · « **Reply #40 on:** 01/14/2015 11:59 am »

the crew was advised some alarms might enunciate as systems were brought back online

zerm · « **Reply #41 on:** 01/14/2015 12:01 pm »

No hard data that there was an actual leak

Targeteer · « **Reply #42 on:** 01/14/2015 12:04 pm »

mission status briefing later in the day is possible

Chris Bergin · « **Reply #43 on:** 01/14/2015 12:07 pm »

Crew portrait - all in the Russian section.

Dragon unloading tasks obviously ceased.

Chris Bergin · « **Reply #44 on:** 01/14/2015 12:09 pm »

Rob Navias "No leak, contrary to the reports circulating" - sounds a bit annoyed by a few mass media who have been getting a bit over excited about it all.

Chris Bergin · « **Reply #45 on:** 01/14/2015 12:12 pm »

So I'll write a short state of play article. Pete's going to write a technical article, which will coincide with when we'll know more.

SoulWager · « **Reply #46 on:** 01/14/2015 12:13 pm »

So the suspicion is that ammonia was leaking from the external cooling loop into the internal cooling loop, but there's no evidence of either loop venting into the station's interior? Is the water loop designed to contain the same pressure as the ammonia loop?

Chris Bergin · « **Reply #47 on:** 01/14/2015 12:14 pm »

New message to the crew about to go up.

mtakala24 · « **Reply #48 on:** 01/14/2015 12:16 pm »

Big picture:

Good news:
Node 2 LTL back up, normal.

Strong belief that false indication of ammonia leak.

Probably won't ingress USOS tonight.

Chris Bergin · « **Reply #49 on:** 01/14/2015 12:16 pm »

To Butch - big picture:

Good news, everything looking nominal. Looks like a false indication - looking to confirm. Should ingress back to USOC tonight.

Targeteer · « **Reply #50 on:** 01/14/2015 12:20 pm »

NASA TV signing off

Chris Bergin · « **Reply #51 on:** 01/14/2015 12:20 pm »

That's the end of the update.

Space Pete · « **Reply #52 on:** 01/14/2015 12:23 pm »

It seems the initial pressure spike was to the internal atmospheric pressure in Node 2, leading the ground to think that ammonia was entering the atmosphere via loop B leaking into the Node 2 LTL.

However, it seems there is no indication of an increase in pressure in the Node 2 LTL (which there would be if there was ammonia leaking into the loop).

So, a faulty atmospheric pressure sensor then?

mtakala24 · « **Reply #53 on:** 01/14/2015 12:29 pm »

Faulty sensor should be easy to rule out - the pressure would also show in the other sensors.

Targeteer · « **Reply #54 on:** 01/14/2015 12:32 pm »

Moscow is telling the Cosmonauts to make sure everyone knows how to use the bathroom in the Russian segment without overloading it--breaks between use are required

Ben the Space Brit · « **Reply #55 on:** 01/14/2015 12:40 pm »

Definitely sounds like instrumentation but it might be interesting to see the solar radiation readings for the relevant period. Could a particle shower have caused several sensors (including the MRM-2 fire/smoke sensor) to have malfunctioned?

I expect the incoming Congress to ask why "there is no US lifeboat" or something similar and then shout 'ORION! SLS!" loudly. No-one will mention that the US lifeboat was de-funded by Congress ages ago...

[edit]
Hmmm... There was an M5-class solar flare early this morning, UT. I'm not knowledgeable of the physics of it but I suppose that the ionising effect could have left enough charged particles in certain parts of the ionosphere to cause shorts in things like sensors.

asmi · « **Reply #56 on:** 01/14/2015 01:15 pm »

Quote from: Ben the Space Brit on 01/14/2015 12:40 pm

I expect the incoming Congress to ask why "there is no US lifeboat" or something similar and then shout 'ORION! SLS!" loudly. No-one will mention that the US lifeboat was de-funded by Congress ages ago...

In this specific case US lifeboat wouldn't help much. Because if some repairs would be necessary, they can be done off RSOS, while in the lifeboat the crew can't do much except sitting around looking nervous.

robertross · « **Reply #57 on:** 01/14/2015 01:17 pm »

Thanks for the coverage guys; I've been following along in the background.
I'm glad it isn't serious as it was once thought.

Chris Bergin · « **Reply #58 on:** 01/14/2015 01:35 pm »

My quick state of play article. Pete will show us how it's done with a technical article late tonight.

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/01/iss-ammonia-leak-alarm-false-indication/

Chris Bergin · « **Reply #59 on:** 01/14/2015 02:00 pm »

NASA ‏@NASA 6m6 minutes ago
.@Space_Station Manager Mike Suffredini will discuss today's events on NASA TV at 11 am ET: http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

Can someone look after this, as I've got to catch up on work I put on hold due to the ISS sensor system having a fit!