BREAKING: Cooling system fails on the space station.
« on: December 11, 2013, 11:09:13 PM »
Astronauts are safe, but NASA describes the situation as "urgent."

International Space Station: ISS Has ‘Urgent Situation’ After Cooling System Fails http://epochtim.es/iHBB

Reports on Wednesday say that the International Space Station’s cooling system has failed, leading to an urgent situation.

NBC News broke the story at around 5:45 p.m. EST.

The station is conserving power and NASA is hoping that software on board the ISS can fix the problem.

If the problem is not fixed, a spacewalk might be required.

NBC reported that none of the astronauts on board the spacecraft are in harm’s way.

Other details were not made immediately clear.

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Offline Roundy

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Re: BREAKING: Cooling system fails on the space station.
« Reply #1 on: December 12, 2013, 08:15:14 AM »
Quite the entertaining little fantasy story.  I wonder how much NASA pays its writers to come out with top-notch drama like this.

If I may critique, I would put some kind of life-threatening obstacle in the astronauts' way, just to punch it up a bit.  But the way they're releasing the story slowly over time gives it just the right level of suspense; I may get that life-threatening situation yet, and the tension will be even stronger, since I wasn't expecting it.  I do suppose that NASA can't make their stories too exciting too much of the time, or they risk breaking the audience's suspension of disbelief (even as easy an audience as this proves to be, by definition, that is still a valid concern for them).  But a little bit of heroics is never a bad thing, and I question if the promise of a spacewalk will be enough to satisfy my thirst for adventure.  2.5 stars out of 5, but if they are able to wake me up a bit in the second act I may increase that grade.
« Last Edit: December 12, 2013, 08:17:32 AM by Roundy »
Dr. Frank is a physicist. He says it's impossible. So it's impossible.
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Offline Tom Bishop

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Re: BREAKING: Cooling system fails on the space station.
« Reply #2 on: December 12, 2013, 08:41:48 AM »
Is it a coincidence NASA's budget is currently under assault by Congress?

See: https://www.google.com/search?q=NASA+budget+cuts#q=NASA+budget+cuts&tbm=nws

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Offline markjo

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Re: BREAKING: Cooling system fails on the space station.
« Reply #3 on: December 12, 2013, 01:31:37 PM »
Is it a coincidence NASA's budget is currently under assault by Congress?
Not really.  NASA's budget has been under assault by Congress since the end of Apollo. 
Abandon hope all ye who press enter here.

Science is what happens when preconception meets verification.

Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge. -- Charles Darwin

If you can't demonstrate it, then you shouldn't believe it.