Stellar Experiences

Celestial Tour Guide, Science Entertainment, and STEM Education

You are here: Home / Space Travel / Commercial Space Program / Orbital Sciences Rocket Explosion Ramifications

Orbital Sciences Rocket Explosion Ramifications

November 3, 2014 By Sandy Eulitt

ISS “Overflowing with trash”

By now, we all know that the Orbital Sciences resupply mission to the ISS exploded just seven seconds after launch on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014. Less than 48 hours later, I had the very great pleasure of seeing a couple of friends who work for the contractor who figures out what goes where inside the vehicle. It was very insightful.

ISS is overflowing with trash

ISS is overflowing with trash

We all tend to focus on just the contents of the launch vehicle, like the food and perishables. What we give less attention to is what the unmanned vehicle was supposed to bring down. Apparently, even BEFORE the launch, the ISS is overflowing with trash. It is, apparently, EVERYWHERE onboard the ISS, and tucked into just about every nook and cranny the astronauts can find. I had thought, erroneously, that some mechanism existed to take the trash outside, just like you and I do, and “tie it on” to the International Space Station. No such luck. The hazards of EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity) are so great, and the preparation for them so long, that conducting one is not justified for taking out the trash.

Astronauts, mission control, and mission planners had intended to use the Orbital Sciences vehicle to take down the copious amounts of trash aboard the ISS, where it would burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere upon re-entry. Now, mission planners not only have to figure out how to quickly resupply the ISS with the 5000 pounds of consumables, spare parts, and badly needed equipment lost in the explosion, they, perhaps faster than they can launch another vehicle, need to figure out just how, and when, to take out the trash.

 

Thanks for listening. If you’d like more information, or to join the email list, please go to www.sandyeulitt.com/contact.

Have a happy day 🙂

 

Facebooktwitterlinkedinrssyoutubeby feather
Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather

Filed Under: Commercial Space Program, Space News, Space Travel Tagged With: EVA, Extra Vehicular Activity, ISS, NASA, Orbital Sciences, rocket explosion, Wallops Island

About Sandy Eulitt

Premier Provider of Astro Tourism(TM), owner of SkyClops(TM), Science Entertainer and Informal STEM Educator.

More at www.stellarexperiences.com/about

Click on a Tag to see Blogs with that Tag

Anza-Borrego desert Apollo 8 Apollo 11 Apollo 13 astronomy binoculars Buzz Aldrin California Science Museum Celestron Curiosity dark sky site destroy the Earth ESO ET European Southern Observatory extrasolar planet extrasolar planets Jim Lovell JPL Jupiter Lake Poway Leo Mars Moon Moon landings Mt. Laguna NASA Neil Armstrong night sky tour Orion Perseid meteor shower Saddleback College Sagittarius San Diego San Diego Air and Space Museum Saturn SkyClops solar astronomy solar viewing Space space shuttle star party telescope Transit of Venus Virgo

Astronomy and Space Events

Search ...

Looking for something else? I have content on a wide variety of astronomy, space, and STEM Education topics, so just enter something, and there's probably some content about it.

Sharing

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather

Copyright © 2022 ·Modern Portfolio Pro Theme · Genesis Framework by StudioPress · WordPress · Log in