Fixing the toilet. Or, what makes one appreciate simple mechanical systems and the local hardware store

By Astronaut Shannon Walker, International Space Station

The other day we had some issues with the toilet in the U.S. Segment.

Late in day I went to use it. When I turned it on (it has pumps and fans that need to run) it sounded a little "off." All of a sudden a circuit breaker popped and everything shut down except for one fan that kept running. That was very strange and certainly not good. Naturally, all of this happened before I was able to make use of the toilet.

Eventually we figured out how to turn that fan off and we let the ground know about the problem. They began thinking about what troubleshooting steps and/or repair work could be done. Until they came up with a plan we had to go to the Russian Segment and use the toilet there. It is a good thing that we have two toilets on board and it is a good thing that I paid attention in my Russian Segment training classes.

The next day we did not hear much from the ground regarding our toilet. Though, towards the end of our day, they had us do some troubleshooting. Unfortunately, there were no conclusive results and we were still without our toilet on the U.S. side.

Day three ended up being a big toilet operations day for me and Wheels. I was scheduled to do a replacement of some of the tubing and hoses that are deep in its bowels, so to speak. I was not entirely sure why I was doing this as it was not originally on my schedule for the day and it did not seem to me to be related to the problems we had earlier. But I am sure the ground had their reasons. At any rate, this ended up being one of those tasks that took quite a bit longer than the ground had scheduled. Plus it did not go as planned.

It took longer because the connectors for these tubes and hoses were extremely difficult to get off. It never ceases to amaze me how parts can seem like they have spontaneously welded themselves together. In addition, the screwdriver that I had available to use for part of the process did not fit into the hole where the screws were that I needed to access. That was a bit frustrating.

Eventually I got all the connections undone and it was at that point that I noticed that one of the hoses was completely blocked with some sort of sludge (bleah!). Needless to say, that was a surprise to me and a surprise to the folks on the ground. Especially since that hose was not being used for anything at the moment. It was there for a future capability of some sort. No one had any idea what the sludge was or where it came from. But, the discovery certainly put a new spin on the day. I had to do extra work to inspect and photo-document a variety of things so the ground could assess this latest twist in the toilet saga. I spent so much time with the toilet that the ground had to defer some of my tasks that were scheduled later in the day.
shannonworking.jpg

(Image Right) Shannon working on something (happily sludge free) other than the U.S. toilet.  NASA

While the ground was contemplating what they thought needed to be done next, I grabbed a quick, late lunch. Then it was back to the toilet to try a couple more things that the ground decided they needed done. It was about this time that I was scheduled for my daily exercise. So, Wheels took over working on the toilet and I went off to lift weights and ride on the bike. He ended up changing out more parts and working through dinner.

I was extremely disappointed that for all our efforts on this day, the toilet still did not work. Late in the evening after Wheels had buttoned everything up, the ground had us fire it up to see if it was fixed. With great anticipation we three Americans gathered around for the grand test. After getting all the switches in the proper configuration, we turned it on and nothing happened. No sounds. No pumps pumping No fans blowing. To make matters even worse, as we were staring at it, perhaps trying to will the toilet to work, the circuit breaker popped again. So, back to the drawing board for the ground and continuing to use the toilet in the Russian Segment for us.

After lunch on day four I began the latest round of troubleshooting. I executed a plan that the ground put together and based on the signatures I received they were able to determine exactly which piece of hardware had the problem. During our night they had narrowed it down to two different pieces of hardware that might have failed. They needed us to flip various switches in a particular order to make the final determination. Once they saw what they needed, they were able to quickly put together a plan for us to replace a malfunctioning pump. The sludge was still a mystery, though.

According to our cargo tracking software, we had a spare pump on board. However, it was listed as "lost," if you can believe that. Unfortunately, it happens. A shuttle comes; lots cargo gets stashed all over the place in a hurry; things get lost. You will eventually run across them, but you just never know when. Since our toilet design is actually based off of the Russian toilet and has common parts with it, the Russians had a spare pump that they let us use. You have to really appreciate the international cooperation in things such as this. In reality, it is not a problem for us to use the Russian toilet (or, for them to use ours). However it is more convenient for all involved if you have only three people sharing a toilet rather than six.

Wheels and I spent the better part of our late afternoon and dinner time replacing the pump. Once again, this was no easy task. The space in which we had to work was extremely cramped and the connectors that we had to disconnect to get the broken pump out were incredibly stubborn. But, we persevered and our efforts paid off. There was much rejoicing when we turned it on and the all fans and pumps worked as they were supposed to.

It is always a good day in space when your toilet works.

Friends in High Places

SSE Pre-college Intern Terry Chen with Col. Charlie Bolden at Goddard Space Flight Center.

You never know who you may run into as an SSE intern!  Congratulations to all interns for a great job this summer, and good luck as you return to school!

A Special Priviledge

By Astronaut Ron Garan, Star City, Russia

I appreciate that I have been given a special privilege. I realize how fortunate I am to be included in that very small group of people who have the opportunity to fly in space. Because of this, I also realize that I have a responsibility to share that experience, as best I can, with everyone who has not been given this opportunity. I began this blog simply to help others share in the wonderful experience of living and working in space.

In September of 2008, 3 months after returning from the STS-124 mission, I was assigned to International Space Station Expedition 27/28. Since that time I have been in full-time training in the US, Russia, Japan, Canada and Germany. Presently I am in week 3 of a 5-week training trip to Star City Russia. This trip has been special because for first time my family was able to come over and join me for a week. I took some leave and showed them around Moscow, St. Petersburg and Star City. It was really great to see them, spend time with them and help them get a better understanding of what’s involved with training over here. It was a really important trip because now everything will not be so new and different when they travel over for launch next March.

All of the assigned crews live in “cottages” that were built about 20 years ago to support NASA’s partnership with the Russian Space Agency. It’s a great experience to share meals and life with fellow crew members, instructors and members of the support teams.

There really is a great feeling of camaraderie. The training here does not come without sacrifice. Of course family separation is the biggest, but the training is packed into the available time which makes for some long days and late study nights. All the training is conducted in Russian but interpreters are provided for those who still need it (like me).

As I write this it’s Sunday night, but tomorrow is a day off due to "Russia Day." I’ll close here for the night since we’re all going to get together tonight and watch a movie.

This entry was originally posted on June 13, 2010 by Astronaut Ron Garan on www.FragileOasis.org

Live Chat Roundup: July 29, 2010

By Jim Gerard,  INSPIRE Education Specialist, KSC, FL

Summer is not quite over, but for our INSPIRE interns their Live Chats have come to an end.  All ten NASA Centers participated as their Residential Interns presented their stories to their colleagues and peers across the country.  Last night, students from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland shared their experiences.  It was rather fitting that the two most geographically distant centers brought all attending from across the nation into a common activity.  This is the kind of virtual community we endeavor to create. 

At the same time, I was playing host at Kennedy Space Center to our Explorer Experience, who I invited to observe and participate as I moderated the event.  They were excited to be in the 'studio audience' as the chat progressed.  Again, students from across the nation forming a community of purpose.  These rising sophomores are excited about next year's Online Learning Community.

But often, before you can proceed forward, you must pause take a moment to reflect, prepare and implement.  The next month will be used to get the next year of the OLC ready for returning and new participants, and that will include a new and improved way to present out Live Chat.  I'll let you know what to expect over the coming weeks.  We'll resume our Chats in September

If you missed last night, you will find the archive in the Chat Archive link from the OLC home page.  A shout out to all those involved - thanks for the evening, and thanks for a great year of chats!

A Tale of Two Kenyas: Contradictions in Air Quality Stirred Researcher’s Pursuit of Atmospheric Science

By Gretchen Cook-Anderson, NASA's Earth Science News Team
       
Charles Kironji Gatebe’s early years read like a cliché. He grew up barefoot and poor in the small Kenyan village of Kenda at the foot of Mount Kenya, the son of coffee sharecroppers who raised their family on pennies a day. He walked nearly 10 miles each way to school for nearly a decade. He lacked adequate texts and other school supplies.

What he didn’t lack on those long daily walks was clean air. It was the contrast between the clear skies of his boyhood home and the smog and fumes of the nation’s capital, Nairobi, that stirred within Gatebe a strong passion for science. In 1979, Gatebe (right) was selected to represent his elementary school at a national convention to celebrate the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) International Year of the Child. He later won a physics prize in high school in 1984 from the Kenya Secondary Schools Science Congress. He enjoyed independent research so much that his physics teacher would allow him to conduct his own experiments in the lab alone at night or on weekends.

Gatebe’s passion, matched with natural aptitude, eventually led Gatebe to degrees from Kenya’s University of Nairobi and the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. Now a climatologist with a joint appointment at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Gatebe has fashioned an award-winning career – including the rare honor of the World Meteorological Organization’s Young Scientist Award in 2000, and awards from the Kenyan government, German Academic Exchange Services, SysTem for Analysis, Research and Training (START), and the International Program in the Physical Sciences -- for his innovative research on air pollution and its sources and effects on his country.

“Air quality in Kenya’s villages was and continues to be significantly different from the smog encountered in Nairobi. They vary so much that it seems you’re virtually in two distinct countries,” said Gatebe when asked to share what sparked his study of Kenya’s air pollution. During his graduate studies at the University of Nairobi, he devised a few climate projects that unexpectedly got the attention of the Kenyan government and United Nations Environment Program . One of those was a modeling experiment to measure vehicle pollution and predict pollution levels from the average speed and number of cars in use.

Gatebe also investigated the origins of the city’s air pollution; that is, how much Nairobi’s citizens and industry generated compared to what was transported in from other countries. “Charles’ Kenyan air quality research was quite breathtaking and significant,” said Michael King, a senior atmospheric scientist at the University of Colorado and former senior project scientist at NASA Goddard who recruited Gatebe to NASA in 1999. “It involved him regularly hiking to the top of Mount Kenya – which sits roughly on the equator -- and collecting air samples of atmospheric aerosol particles that he analyzed for their composition to distinguish dust and other particles from local sources from pollutants arriving from as far away as southern Africa, India and the Sahara.”

The acclaim from the study came as a surprise, Gatebe says, but motivated him to stay the course. He knew he’d found his niche.

As a former child scientist, Gatebe is eager to inspire more kids to get involved in science. He’s dedicated himself to NASA’s Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) education program, and blogs about the science of current events for GLOBE’s Web site.

Gatebe’s latest work is based on what he calls an accidental discovery, not uncommon in science. In summer of 2008, he was part of a NASA field mission called Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS). Arctic wind currents can carry a haze that affects local climate. Gatebe and colleagues flew aboard planes through smoke blown over the Pacific Ocean from land-based fires to evaluate the composition of the pollution that eventually forms Arctic haze.

A ship passed beneath Gatebe’s plane, through his measurement field, triggering a mass of sea foam in its wake. When he later evaluated visible and near-infrared data from NASA’s Cloud Absorption Radiometer instrument that took the measurements from aboard the plane, he noticed a spike in brightness in the vicinity of the ship’s path. The bubbles in the wake increased light reflectance off the ocean.

The irony of the discovery was quite amazing to Gatebe. Ships were long thought to pollute the air and contribute to warmer climate through exhaust emissions. But they also appear to have a counterbalancing effect of cooling local ocean surfaces by as much as four percent. What he doesn’t know yet is just how much the cooling effect offsets the warming effect on the nearby environment. He hopes that others will further the work so the question doesn’t go unanswered.  

Live Chat Roundup: July 15, 2010

By Jim Gerard, INSPIRE Education Specialist, KSC, FL

This Live Chat Roundup is a little late.  It is usually on Friday following the chat.  At the time of the chat, I was 30,000 ft in the air flying back toward Orlando from a conference I attended in Chicago.  I was scheduled to arrive in Orlando around 6:00 pm which would have been plenty of time to get ready for the chat, but after leaving the airport, the A/C malfunctioned, the pilot went back to the airport, and they canceled the flight.  At the last minute I called Beth White and laid it all on her lap.  And she did great!  My thanks to her for having my back during my travel trials.

I have just gone through and created an archive of the night, and again I am impressed with all the work our interns are doing.  I'm very interested in what Hollie and Christopher are doing at JSC.  They are building a scale model of the Apollo 17 landing site at the Taurus-Littrow region of the Moon.  Modeling is a hobby of mine, from flying rockets to static plastic to paper models to self crafted.  I once created the Apollo 11 landing site from some topological maps and plaster-of-paris.   This is why these chats are so fun - it helps create connections!  I hope you are enjoying them as much as I do!

Now, how would you like to hear our presenters instead of just reading text?  Stay tuned for an important announcement!

Live Chat Roundup: July 8, 2010

By Jim Gerard, KSC, FL

Thanks to the interns at Stennis and Dryden for a great chat last night!.  The students at Dryden had to hustle to their domicile and put off dinner to participate, so special thanks to them and Linda Kelly, their chaperone.  Adding up the students who were logged in as a center team, we had over 100 participants!   We hope to add to these numbers as you pass the word back to your families to join in.

Did you have a question that did not get answered?  Unfortunately we have a limited time for our chats, so we could not get to everybody.  Don't forget you can always ask your questions by using the 'Comment' feature of the blogs!  Then check back for your answer.

I'll be in Chicago next week to learn some new tricks on how to use the software for our OLC, so get ready for some changes.  This would also apply to our chats as well.  Have you ever wondered why we 'type' our 'chats'?  Well that is about to change!  Stay tuned!