Have you been keeping up with the latest from the space shuttle Discovery?
They’ve noticed that a couple of what they call ‘gap fillers’ are sticking out where they shouldn’t on the surface of the shuttle. They were probably shaken out during the vibrations of launch.
The concern is that, even though they are only poking out a few centimetres, they could cause problems on re-entry. Shuttle astronaut Stephen Robinson says removing the strips should be fairly straightforward. He’s going on a space walk with the plan of pulling out the fillers either by hand or with a pair of forceps, but if that doesn’t work, he’ll use a hacksaw.
I reckon that’s brilliant. That’s my kind of handyman. If you can’t get it to do what it should, take to it with a hacksaw.
I’m thrilled to know that they decided to pack a hacksaw in the toolkit in the first place.
I wonder what else is in there. If it’s anything like my toolkit there’ll be a couple of pairs of pliers, an adjustable spanner, some vice grips, an old hammer, a few assorted screwdrivers, some left over screws and bolts from the last thing they were working on and a pack of cable ties.
I do wish them all the best as they face some nervous days leading up to re-entry, and I do hope that we get to see some video of that hacksaw in action.
UPDATE: The hacksaw wasn’t needed. Thankfully, Robinson was able to pull the fillers out with his fingers. Their next issue is with a damaged thermal blanket. Let’s hope and pray that they’re able to overcome the problem and return safely to earth as scheduled on the 8th of August.
Posted by Rodney Olsen
Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading Space Handyman? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.
I sure have more than a few concerns about them re-entering earth’s atmosphere, but you are very correct, this sure adds some drama to the whole mission.
It reminds me of the movie Apollo13 where they had to quickly be inventive in order to get back safely.
It’s really scary that more care wasn’t taken when preparing for takeoff. After all, it’s more than just NASA’s reputation at stake, there are real live people in that space ship, that in reality, may not make it back! 🙁
But occy straps – do they have occy straps?!
You’re right – that’s what they’re missing. A couple of occy straps in the right place can solve just about anything.
I would have thought that Andy Thomas would have done the repair job, since he is the Andy man. Ha ha ha ha . . . . . . hmmmmmm.