International space station crew hears unexplained crunching noise
Posted on: Thursday, 27 November 2003, 06:00 CST
International space station crew hears unexplained crunching noise
By MARK CARREAU Houston Chronicle
Thursday, November 27, 2003
The U.S. and Russian crew of the international space station reported a brief, unexpected metallic crunching noise outside the outpost early Wednesday.
Astronaut Mike Foale told NASA's Mission Control the noise sounded as if something had struck the aft end of the Russian module that houses the crew's sleeping quarters, kitchen and lavatory.
Both U.S. and Russian ground-based experts could find no evidence of penetration of the station's airtight hull or the cooling system for the electronic equipment that is responsible for life- sustaining operations.
"All systems are intact," said NASA's Rob Navias, a space station program spokesman. "All of the data from the U.S. and Russian sides shows nothing out of the ordinary."
Later, Foale used video cameras on the station's 57-foot-long robot arm to scan the external areas of the outpost from which the noise seemed to come, in search of potential damage.
"Unfortunately, we're looking tangential at the area we think we heard the noise come from," Foale reported after 30 minutes of scanning. "We don't see any blemish at all."
Both Foale, the station's commander, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri, the flight engineer, heard the noise at 1:59 a.m., CST, as they were completing their breakfast and cleanup period.
"It sounded like a metal tin can kind of being expanded and compressed," Foale informed Mission Control a moment later. "It was a noise that lasted about a second. It sounded like an impact or something."
Earlier this month, the space station marked its third year of continuous occupation.
The Department of Defense, which monitors orbital space with radar for surprise missile launches, tracks the movements of thousands of pieces of debris from old satellites and rocket launches in orbit around Earth. If the military surveillance forecasts a close approach, NASA is alerted so the space station can be maneuvered safely away.
Foale and Kaleri plan to observe the Thanksgiving holiday with a light work schedule and a meal that includes turkey and chicken and rice.
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