NASA’s Reputation in the Balance?

Part of the cooling system for the International Space Station began to leak yesterday as two astronauts engaged in one of the longest ever spacewalks to try to fix it. The initial problem (a broken down cooling unit) was the reason for the space walk, but it soon became apparent that the problem would be more difficult to fix than was anticipated. Now, according to International Space Station Manager, the maintenance has become a matter of fixing the problem before the station’s other cooling system next needs attention.

What turned out to be the sixth longest spacewalk ever was initiated in order to repair one of the two cooling systems onboard the space station, which had broken down in July. The system regulates the temperatures generated by the equipment within the multiple laboratories onboard the station, but requires regular attention.

In order to conduct repairs, it was necessary to disconnect a fitting on one of the ammonia lines that feeds the system. It would not disconnect, and when it was examined more closely the line was seen to be leaking ammonia crystals. What with the recent BP Oil Spill, which took so long to clean up, a long-running problem with the International Space Station (ISS) would be a field day for the world’s media – and that sort of coverage will harm NASA’s reputation. In order to manage their reputation effectively, NASA will ideally want to fix the damaged ammonia line quickly and release a large amount of news about the success of the ISS.