- ISS Daily Report
- MSNBC: “Delayed spacewalk ends successfully”
- NASA
- NASASpaceflight.com: LIVE: Expedition 20 first spacewalk – June 5, 2009
- Spacewalk Briefing Materials
- TsUP
A novel way of protecting ISS occupants from radiation is to use damp napkins! From NK №784:
“The Phantom Torso Returns”, Space Daily, 28/5, has more about the Matryoshka experiment.22/05/2009/00:05 – Damp napkins will reduce the risk of adverse effects of space radiation
A special screen, which will serve as additional protection against radiation for the crews of the ISS, should appear on board the Station in early 2010.
“We have been successfully producing prototype draft-screen curtains and by the end of this year, the Rocket and Space Corporation Energiya specialists will put the product in a Progress cargo ship to be launched to the ISS in early 2010,” said Vyacheslav Shurshakov, Head of the Laboratory at the Institute of Biomedical Problems, part of the Russian Academy of Sciences, where the screen was developed.
The screen is equipped with curtain-pockets, in which will be inserted plastic packaging with wet towels used for personal hygiene and cleaning crews of the station.
The packaged napkins are impregnated with a material containing hydrogen, carbon and nitrogen, which effectively weaken the cosmic radiation, the scientist explained. Sensors are installed outside and inside the curtains to monitor radiation doses.
Additional protection for the ISS crew is provided by securing three layers of polyethylene packaging with wet towels on the walls of the cabin which, in the opinion of scientists, will further reduce the risk of the adverse effects of space radiation.
According to Shurshakova, the first results of the “Matryoshka”, «Матрешка» experiment on the ISS showed that the dose of radiation received by the vital organs decreases almost twice when you remove the person from the walls of the station to its center. “The Matryoshka-R with sensors installed on the ISS will allow us to test the effectiveness of the radiation protection provided by the sanitary napkins delivered to the Station,” he said.
It is anticipated that the experimental screens will be fitted in the cabins of the ISS Service Module Zvezda. If the effectiveness of the new protection is confirmed, future orbital stations and interplanetary ships will be equipped with similar screens.
The sanitary napkins can be used not only for radiation protection, but also to reduce noise in the cabin from constantly-operating machinery and devices, added the scientist.
The Kazbek-UM seats in the Soyuz are to be made reusable:
26/05/2009/00:05 – Seats for the Soyuz Russian spaceships will be made reusable
The Research-and-production enterprise (NPP) Zvezda is working on prolonging the life of the Kazbek seat. “Whereas it was previously a single-use device, in connection with the increase in the number of manned launches a series of modifications is being made in order to enable its re-use,” said an interlocutor in the Russian space industry.
According to him, after the return of the ship from orbit, the seats will be returned to NPP Zvezda to evaluate their condition. Specialists will do a range of repair work, after which the seats can be used repeatedly.
The speaker recalled that the last major change in the design of the Kazbek seats were made during the development of the Soyuz TMA variant, calculated for the flight to the International Space Station of both Russian and American astronauts.
The requirements of the anthropometric parameters of NASA astronauts were greater than for the selection of cosmonauts in Russia [in other words, the Americans were better-fed :-)]
. In order to accommodate the Americans in the Soyuz, the seats had to be lengthened and increased in size, explained the interlocutor.
The Kazbek seat allows a cosmonaut to endure g-forces during launch and re-entry into the atmosphere, cushioning the blow when the Descent Module hits the ground.
