Below are a few of the tools used to construct the International Space Station, one of the most challenging feats of engineering ever attempted.A rechargeable battery slots into the handle like the clip of a handgun. How long did Mars planetary dynamo take to turn off? Credit: NASA It was first used in space in 1997. The SIG MPX and MCX, for example, use an AR-15 grip. I gather a bunch up each week and answer them here.The Guide to Space is a series of space and astronomy poddcasts by Fraser Cain, publisher of Universe TodayEpisode 678: Q&A 126: When Did Mars' Dynamo Shut Off? Astronauts can program the speed and torque, and the settings show up on the screen. It’s very hot, very cold, and it’s also in a vacuum and most tools, power tools for example that you pick up from Home Depot just would not survive in the environment of space.Here are just a few things the CATs team has to consider when developing a new tool”• The tight quarters the astronaut would have to work in with the tool.After wrenching off the handrail on STIS, I was amused to hear Mike Massimino say he was getting ready to play “Operation” when referring to using the attached capture plate on the instrument. So storing them in the grip of your rifle seems like a win-win as far as I’m concerned. But you won’t see it; the whole thing is covered with aluminum tape for durability. I’m sure he was jokingly referring to the popular Milton-Bradley game. NASA has long used a cordless drill called the Pistol Grip Tool, but needed a faster tool with less torque than the PGT, and Cassisdy likened the mini power tool to what Indy pit crews used to rapidly change bolts. Previous training tools have caused shoulder injuries. Ben Reed, of NASA's Satellite Servicing Office, holds the Pistol Grip Tool used by astronauts servicing the Hubble Space Telescope. A little levity in zero-G. I suppose it is curious that the technical and corporate knowledge base for orbital maintenance is going to be lost. NASA began developing the requirements for the three-pound tool in 1993 to make repairing the Hubble Space Telescope easier. Pistol-Grip Tool The main tool used by spacewalkers is this 21st century hand-drill, built by Swales Aerospace Inc. “The space environment is very harsh.
@lbc: I too mourn the loss of the technical & corporate knowledge that was so hardfought (and expensive, in more ways than monetary) to gain, only to be lost due to the end of the shuttle program.In this week's questions show, I consider what the benefits might be to humanity if we discover that we aren't alone in the Universe.
Here is the Rate Sensing Units Changeout Tool, a crew member is able to reach inside the telescope without entering it, and capture and restrain a sensor unit by pulling a trigger. The instrument failed in 2004, and the problem was traced to the power supply. A document discusses a lightweight, functional mockup of the Pistol Grip Tool for use during underwater astronaut training. The body is made of a durable, glass-infused plastic called Lexan. Ask a short question on any video on my channel. In general I think the shuttle program has been a bit of an expensive waste of time. Credit: NASA › View Hi-res Image The pistol grip tool has been a standard instrument for spacewalkers for missions to the Hubble Space Telescope and construction of the International Space Station. Last September space shuttle Atlantis carried Joe Tanner and five other astronauts to the International Space Station to install two 17-ton truss segments, the first large sections added to the orbiting facility in nearly four years (The gadgets need to be specially designed for use in space—hardened against the vacuum, resistant to extreme temperatures, and easy to use while wearing gloves. The main tool used by spacewalkers is this 21st century hand-drill, built by Swales Aerospace Inc. The tool is able to withstand temperatures ranging from -74 degrees F to 189 degrees F.“One could think you go to the hardware store and actually pick out a tool and use that in space,” said Cassidy. “To actually open up an instrument and pull a board had never been thought of nor conceived that we would want to do that and therefore the interfaces were not very friendly to an astronaut,” said Cassidy.In fact, there were 111 tiny screws that needed to be removed from the instrument in order to gain access to the board. Its metal hydride batteries can hold more charge at extreme temperatures—perfect for the cycles of shadow and sunlight the station experiences in orbit.
Yet it is a bit sad to think that these developments will be cast aside. Engineers are not eager to design another one—the pistol-grip tool is modular so improvements can be added later.Other tethers serve as toolbelts. It’s a small waste of space you can use to keep small essentials handy. Justin Cassidy, the lead systems engineer for CATS team, compared the work astronauts would have to do on orbit to opening up a computer and replacing a board while wearing thick gloves on their hands and a fishbowl on their head. Servicing Mission 4 astronaut Drew Feustel trains with fellow astronauts and Hubble engineers in the clean room at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. 1. Feustel is using a computer-controlled power tool, called the Pistol Grip Tool, to install the Wide Field Camera 3 into a high-fidelity Hubble model.
Mike Massimino completed the STIS repair with the ingenious “fastener capture plate.”It took 4-5 years to develop the mini power tool and the capture plate. And More…Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)First Observations of Biological Particles in High-Altitude Clouds The pistol grip tool has been a standard instrument for spacewalkers for missions to the Hubble Space Telescope and construction of the International Space Station. The AR-15 grip is popular enough that’s it’s found its way onto a variety of weapons.