After Spacecraft Explosion, International Space Station Faces Miasmic Problem

[Buster's Uncle]

After Spacecraft Explosion, International Space Station Faces Miasmic Problem
Forbes
Matt Hickey Contributor  10/31/2014 @ 11:55PM



Just a couple of days ago the space industry was rocked by news that an Orbital Sciences Antares rocket exploded just seconds after launch. The rocket was carrying over 5000 pounds of needed cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) as well as a private space telescope and over two dozen microsatellites, also from a private source.

As far as supplies go, the astronauts aboard the ISS are fine for now; as a general rule they are over-supplied to account for disasters such as the one that occurred on Wednesday. But the mission had a secondary objective – and it’s one that might cause some very different problems for those on the ISS.

After delivering supplies like food and scientific gear, the module docked with the ISS was meant to return to Earth carrying nearly two tons of waste, much of it of the human variety.

In orbit, a toilet flush can’t just eject the matter into space because Newtonian physics dictates that very ejecta would remain in that same orbit for a very long time with the potential of becoming a highly dangerous projectile later on. In other words, the foul waste could foul up the space station later on, and that’s dangerous. The waste could be hurtling at the same altitude as the ISS at several times the speed of a bullet, and that should not be a way for anyone to go.

The ISS does have room to store additional waste, and another mission is scheduled to both re-supply and act as a garbage truck for the station, so it’s in decent shape now; these kinds of margins are built in. But for the time being life aboard the second largest thing orbiting the Earth has the possibility of getting worse before it gets better, and we’re not just talking about a lack of freeze dried ice cream.

NASA wasn’t available to comment on the situation or provide details on the amount of toilet paper the astronauts may still have available.


http://www.forbes.com/sites/kitconews/2014/10/29/space-mining-company-loses-test-vehicle-in-nasa-rocket-explosion/