The US space agency said the damage to wiring in a network box was intentional and obvious, but said it could be repaired before take-off on 7 August. NASA stressed that the lives of its astronauts had not been put at risk.
A subcontractor working on the computer box reported a week ago that the internal wires appeared to have been sabotaged. The sabotage is believed to have happened at the subcontractor's locale, not within NASA. The damaged computer, which had it launched to the ISS would have only hindered the collection of information as a new main truss was being assembled at the space station. There was no risk to the astronauts aboard the space station.
NASA hopes to fix the computer and launch it Aug. 7 as planned aboard Endeavour. The computer is designed for use aboard the space station, not the shuttle, and the damage would have posed no danger to either shuttle or station astronauts.
A space program worker deliberately damaged a computer that is supposed to fly aboard the shuttle Endeavour in less than two weeks, an act of sabotage that was caught before the equipment was loaded onto the spaceship, NASA said Thursday. The unidentified employee, who works for a NASA subcontractor, cut wires inside the computer that is supposed to be delivered to the international space station by Endeavour.
NASA has confirmed that a worker has tampered with a computer destined for the ISS. A replacement computer was opened and wires inside were cut. An investigation is underway.
An Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS) moves away from the International Space Station after it was jettisoned by astronaut Clay Anderson (out of frame), Expedition 15 flight engineer, during today's session of extravehicular activity (EVA). The EAS was installed on the P6 truss during STS-105 in August 2001, as an ammonia reservoir if a leak had occurred. It was never used, and was no longer needed after the permanent cooling system was activated last December.
Tommy Holloway, chair of the International Space Station (ISS) Safety Task Force and former ISS manager for NASA, told House lawmakers July 24 that he doubts the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program can make up for a "substantial part" of the projected ISS logistics shortfall in the crucial first few years after the space shuttle's 2010 retirement. NASA projects a logistics shortfall of more than 6 tons even before the shuttle is retired. The shortfall grows to 120,000 pounds by the end of the station's service life in 2016, given resupply by Russian Progress vehicles, the European Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) and Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV).
Litterbug astronauts have hurled almost a ton of junk off the International Space Station, including an old refrigeration system weighing 1400lb, risking a fiery meteoric death for innocent Earth-dwellers. In sharp contrast to green consumers worldwide, NASA has brazenly revealed that the fly tipping spacemen hadn't even used the fridge before throwing it overboard. Outrage is expected from the sandal-wearing, lentil-friendly elements of society.
A space walking NASA astronaut pitched two large pieces of obsolete equipment off the International Space Station and into orbit yesterday. A 1,400lb, refrigerator-sized reservoir that contains ammonia was cast overboard during a spacewalk by Clay Anderson, a station flight engineer, and his commander, the Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin. Mr Anderson also tossed away a 212lb camera mounting.
Two International Space Station crew members Monday successfully wrapped up a 7-hour, 41-minute spacewalk that saw the removal and jettison of a refrigerator-size ammonia reservoir. The spacewalk from the Quest Airlock ended at 18:06 GMT. Astronaut Clay Anderson was the lead spacewalker, EV1, wearing the spacesuit with red stripes. Fyodor Yurchikhin, the cosmonaut and station commander, wearing the all-white suit, was EV2. Cosmonaut Oleg Kotov operated the Canadarm2 from the U.S. laboratory Destiny.