Jun 16, 2007, 7:47 GMT
Moscow/Washington - After days of uncertainty about the six computers that keep the orbiting space station in place, Russian cosmonauts used a jumper cable bypass to get four of them working again on Friday, NASA officials said.
In this NASA handout 15 June 2007 a camera aboard the International Space Station (ISS) captured this view of the space shuttle Atlantis (L) docked to the ISS with the earth as a back drop before the start if the third space walk. EPA/NASA HANDOUT
In another good bit of news, US astronauts visiting with the docked Atlantis shuttle were successful in stapling fast an errant tear protruding from the spacecraft's thermal blanket. The tear needed to be repaired before the shuttle heads back to Earth next week.
Spacewalker Danny Olivas 'used a medical stapler to secure it to adjacent blankets on Atlantis' left orbital manoeuvering system pod,' NASA said.
The computer and shuttle glitches underlined the risks of spaceflight and complicated the main task of the mission - unfurling yet another set of solar panels to increase electric generation on the station.
The Russian computers began experiencing problems soon after the solar panels deployed on Wednesday. The problems were thought to be due to static or noise caused by variations in electric signals - similar to the effect a mobile phone receiving a call can have on a television or computer.
Physical damage had been done to the power units of the computers, a NASA official said in broadcast remarks, but nobody at NASA 'thinks this vehicle is at risk of being lost, not even remotely,' he added.
Russian space station commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and flight engineer Oleg Kotov went through every cable looking for electrical interference, then found a faulty secondary power switch that they bridged with the jumper cable, according to Spaceflightnow.com and NASA.
'The current plan is to allow the computers to operate overnight and analyze the data Saturday morning,' NASA said.
Meanwhile, Russian and US flight controllers and engineers were also exploring alternatives to keeping the station in its proper altitude and tilt for maximum solar collection and energy supply.
The ISS is not endangered as long as a gyroscope in the US part of the station can hold it on course. If that were also to fail, the Atlantis could provide stabilization, officials said.
International Space Station Program Manager Mike Suffredini told reporters: 'I think we're in good shape ... We still have a lot of options to go through to recover these machines.'
Russian officials earlier Friday said they were considering bumping up the launch date of a spacecraft to bring new energy sources for the failing computers, which are critical to the operation of the ISS, though US space agency NASA said the astronauts were safe and there was no need to evacuate.
The Russian spacecraft Progress, scheduled for an August launch, could be sent up at the end of July if cosmonauts on board the ISS fail to solve a mysterious computer malfunction of systems that control the station's positioning.
'A possible delivery of new sources of energy for the computers is being worked out. Accordingly, the launch of the Progress could be moved forward by two weeks,' said Nikolai Sevastyanov, president of Energia, the firm that produces Russia's space rockets.
US astronauts Olivas and James Reilly entered the open cosmos for more than six-hours to fix the thermal blanket and install a valve connected to the station's oxygen system and help retract an old solar panel.
They also inspected the cable they connected to a new set of solar panels installed during earlier spacewalks this week, which was a suspect in the computer problems.
Sevastyanov said the newly installed solar array was to blame for the disturbance, which has only affected Russian computers on the station. Suffredini acknowledged that possibility, but said it was not an inherent design problem with the solar panels.
While the US computers have not been affected, Sevastyanov said static electricity from the panels had knocked out the Russian computers' power.
The Progress, a cargo craft, is currently scheduled for an August launch but could be sent July 23 if the new energy sources are needed.
Sevastyanov emphasized that the crew's ability to live on the station was not affected by the problems, and that upcoming events including the docking of the Progress and any US shuttles could be managed without the Russian segment of the ISS.
Energia also said Friday that it had contacted NASA to request the space shuttle Atlantis bring back one of the computers for analysis when it leaves the ISS next week.
The problems have concerned NASA enough to take energy saving measures on the Atlantis so that it could stay in space another extra day if it is needed to stabilize the ISS. The robot arm and other non-necessary systems were turned off.
Your Talkback on this Story