Source "Snowfall" on the ISS has not been determined - Moskovsky Komsomolets

Experts do not rule out that due to the leakage of ammonia from the Americans may have problems with the operation of the equipment

Exactly at 16.15 Moscow time American astronauts Thomas Mashburn and Chris Cassidy had to go into space in order to find out where the ammonia leak from the cooling system of one of the two energy channels. According to him the current from the solar panels goes to the ISS.

Recall that for days earlier, on May 10 the Americans noticed a strange snowfall in its glass windows. They even managed to shoot a video camera smoothly flying overboard “snowflakes”. A little later, it was found that the “snowflakes” – none other than the ammonia arising from the cooling system of power plant solar panels. It was about the batteries housed in the main point of the P6 truss.

Experts believed that the leak comes from the pump 2B PFCS, which should simply be replaced with a spare. However, to get to him an hour after the spacewalk, they are not seen as the most flying “snowflakes».

As “MK” in the Russian office of NASA, Thomas Mashburn and Chris Cassidy, indeed, at first expect to see in a place where there is a block of pumps, including 2B PFCS, the same flying flakes of ammonia. However, they were not. Most likely the gas pulled out into the open space more powerful stream than before, and the individual particles are not scattered around the station. It is also possible that because of the fairly active leakage of gas pressure could be reduced. The fact that the ammonia leak has actually occurred, the instruments showed even on Friday night.

, commented, “MK” events on the ISS is one of the professional space industry, now the Americans should by all means to detect the leak. If they fail, it may fail one circuit temperature control system, and it will stop working for a group of devices. Surely, the Americans in their energy system there is a division into sections. And because of the global interruption of the module should not happen. Given a similar, state of emergency, which happened last fall (then also had to eliminate the leakage of ammonia from the system power supply by solar panels), we can assume that the American side, there is some systematic error. Nevertheless, experts believe that the astronauts, and this time will cope with the problem.

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