Space station update: Mystery tiny but growing air leak sparks search for hole Astronauts aboard the International Space Station will attempt to find and patch the source of a tiny air leak first detected last year. In September 2019, NASA, Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Russia’s Roscosmos – whose hardware makes up the station – were alerted to a drop in air pressure within the orbiting …
That sounds like an expensive plumber's bill, although I had to have the entire drain line from the kitchen sink to the main drain line in the front yard re-done after ~30-40 years of hot water, grease, and bog only knows what else finally ate through the cast iron part of the line. Had to have the front yard trenched, and part of the front porch saw cut. that was about 3-4 thousand US pesos. I at least got a main line cleanout plug installed in the yard for my money, so there was that.
(The previous owners were cheapsakes and did half-assed fixes whenever possible instead of paying the appropriate money and doing it right the first time. Had I known that, I would have passed on this house.)
Please... be reasonable..... :)
The call out fee is not going to be 100 Million... as a seat on SpaceX is 55 Million (round trip) and ... with 4 days of travel even at overtime rates the fee for the plumber would be 96 hours * $200.. so let us round that to $20,000 + parts... so let us say .. under 56 Million USD...
from: https://www.space.com/spacex-boeing-commercial-crew-seat-prices.html
titled: Here's How Much NASA Is Paying Per Seat on SpaceX's Crew Dragon & Boeing's Starliner
By Mike Wall November 16, 2019
<QUOTE>
NASA will likely pay about $90 million for each astronaut who flies aboard Boeing's CST-100 Starliner capsule on International Space Station (ISS) missions, the report estimated. The per-seat cost for SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule, meanwhile, will be around $55 million, according to the OIG's calculations.
To put those costs into perspective: NASA currently pays about $86 million for each seat aboard Russia's three-person Soyuz spacecraft, which has been astronauts' only ride to and from the ISS since NASA's space shuttle fleet was grounded in July 2011.
<END QUOTE>
when the tire shop employees need to find a leak, they dunk the tire in soapy water and rotate it until they see bubbles... (and I've heard of people spraying soapy water on high pressure air piping to check for leaks)
Also possible, emit something visible (like smoke) in the center of the compartment and watch which way it moves over time.
Additionally, the location of a leak may have a different I.R. or U.V. appearance than the surrounding metal, especially when struck with solar wind. Perhaps a (robotic?) camera on the outside could scan for it?
The leak was repaired using a strip of good ol’ Kapton tape. ®
<Sharp intake of breath>
Well, yeees, if you've got the right sort of leak. This one's a different story guv'nor and I'm gonna have to replace the section. I ain't got the right parts in the Dragon, so I'll 'ave to come back....'ow are you fixed for next week?
... without explaining what a Cosmonaut or Astronaut was doing operating a drill in a Soyuz... other than the insinuation an American Astronaut wanted to come home early. Oh well. Ya keep an space station in orbit long enough, ya going to have some holes to patch. The secret is to keep them small.
I remember seeing 'fun' clips of 'nauts chasing small water bubbles around a cabin to show kids (and us kids at heart) how lack of gravity works.
Could they not release a bubble or two into each cabin/section or whatever and see where they 'gravitate' to?
Or doesn't it work that way?
Boffins would know ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------^^
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