I thought this was pretty cool to make the "news"
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/070830_exp15_pma3move.html
A co-worker and I have been training the crew to do this for a year and a half. It got pretty hairy today as 3 of the 16 bolts showed signs that their load cells (things that measure how “tight” the bolts are) were not within the proper voltage range. This was most likely caused because the bolts were sitting there tightened to 19,000 lbs each for about 6.5 years… Ordinarily this wouldn’t have been such a huge deal except we’re docking the huge new US module at that port in Oct/Nov! We need 15 of 16 bolts tightened fully to be able to open the hatches between the two modules. We do have ways to drive the bolts to a proper “tightness” using indications from how much torque the motors are putting out but we’ve never tested this configuration. We'll see how things go in the next couple of weeks as we troubleshoot these troublesome bolts.
And now for the awards portion of our presentation! Michelle was the main brains behind the troubleshooting operations today and she did a great job! Lisa also was in the flight control room supporting for her (and Melissa's) group to work the ISS attitude control issues. Thanks Lisa! (both Michelle and Lisa's blogs are always linked to the right)
3 comments:
19K lbs! thats alot of torque, dont snap em off I'm sure its more trouble than breaking off a head bolt....
I assume you mean 19K ft-lbs. What is the proper torque?
And, Andy, I don't attach my head with bolts. I use super glue.
No, I meant pounds force, not torque. Each bolt has a load cell which measures compression force. They read in kilo-newtons (approx 86) which is about 19,000lbs force. I'm actually not sure off the top of my head what the torque output of the motors is to get that loading.
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