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Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Science Joe the Space Plumber

Posted by Charles Mudede on Wed, Nov 26, 2008 at 10:44 AM

Yet another sign of the end that is near for the Space Shuttle program.

Astronauts have fixed a urine-recycling unit on the International Space Station, needed to support a six-person crew at the research outpost next year.

The mission of the US space shuttle Endeavour was extended by one day to fix the machine, which is designed to convert urine into drinking water.

The equipment had failed several times since it was delivered a week ago.

The shuttle is now due to return to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday after 16 days in orbit.

"Not to spoil anything, but I think up here the appropriate words are 'Yippee!'," space station Commander Mike Fincke told mission control early on Tuesday morning.

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What a terrible thing to fail.

Posted by N on November 26, 2008 at 10:51 AM

I'd hate to be the first person that has to test it out.

Posted by C on November 26, 2008 at 10:54 AM

I don't get it. How does a broken pee to drinking water machine aboard the space station have anything to do with the end of the STS? My dishwasher is broken, is that a telling sign of the decay of national infrastructure?

Posted by Chris on November 26, 2008 at 10:55 AM

How exactly is this "Yet another sign of the end that is near for the Space Shuttle program"? ISS mission parameters have mandated a crew complement of six or more going back to Reagan's original "Space Station Freedom" concept in 1984; installation of the Water Recovery System, while vital to that specific purpose, has absolutely no correlation to the STS retirement schedule.

You're really reaching on this one, Chaz...

Posted by COMTE on November 26, 2008 at 11:03 AM

The space shuttle has always been the worst possible technology for the job. If they had deliberately set out to come up with the most expensive delivery system per pound of payload, they couldn't have come up with a pricier one. Using the space shuttle to perform missions like this is like using a classic Ferrari to haul coal.

Posted by Fnarf on November 26, 2008 at 11:35 AM