Day 9 of 30 2006
Day 9 of 30 2006 jedcThe odd-looking module hove into view, aimed at the shady side's airlock docking port. It did the usual pop off of the nose fairing and reel in to the front of the engine tug module, yet the docking end of the module had an odd ring around it, a meter from the vacant-looking docking end. It hung there as if poised for docking, on their viewscreen. "OK, there it is, let's lock our helmets down and head out" Improy said, heading toward the shaded side airlock. They exited out to view it in person a moment, then moved their security tethers to fasten outside the hub, a few meters from the airlock's opening. "OK, we are clear, close the airlock" he spoke into the microphone radio link to the now-acting port supervisor. Seeing the hatch swing closed, he spoke again, requesting that Ownma White Sands Control Center resume the motion of the new module. A bit apprehensively they watched and waited. The big engine tug module would normally have long ago disengaged from the module and headed back toward ground. Instead, they could see a blur at the rear of the engines, and the huge module headed square at the end of their hub module. Wham! They almost lost their grip on the handholds, as the shock reverberated in their module's structure, quickly damping down. They then began to inspect the impact joint, it appeared to have seated well around the outer edge of the end of the module. Giving the OK to disengage, he saw the huge engine tug glideback module release its hold on the far end of the module, and began its de-orbit sequence, was soon out of sight, going back to get another module to help bring up in a few days.
Their instructions were unusual even more. They then took sledgehammers and went around the perimeter of the joint, driving in large threaded nails that had been provided partially pre-embedded in the newly arrived module's nose fairing. Next they ambled along the safety rope along the hub's exterior, and entered their own hub by the usual sunny side airlock hatch. Inside, they left their suits on, again going out but this time through the shady side airlock. They connected the power connector, lighting up the cylindrical space there, to the tank bulkhead down a ways. The used a caulk gun to seal around the joint's perimeter, then used a ratchet wrench to secure a locking nut on the protruding ends of the threaded nails they had driven in from the outside; then more sealant on each of those places. They went down the cylinder to get a look at the huge odd ring mechanism there; then they went back inside and had lunch together in one of the cafeterias.
Between munches on a sandwich, Catalie read the instructions outloud to Improy, as he was eating a two-fisted grip huge quailburger. "Next we go back out to the far end of the new hub module, open the airlock there and go inside, de-gassing the interior and taking out the internal bulkhead, go activate the remaining airlock in there. Then we remove the locking sleeve from around the bearing inner perimeter, and inspect the clearance, needs to be between 0.05 and 0.1 cm all the way around. Plug in the power to its control box, and start its temperature control system, along with the beginning of current input to its superconductor magnet rings. We monitor the progress of this from our normal control station for the next few days, and if it all looks stabilized by then", pausing to munch her sandwich, "we go outside the hub, remove the outer shield sleeve, and give it a shove to see if the module begins to rotate slowly. And we will occasionally monitor its angular velocity for the next few days to see if it is adequately frictionless."
posted by Unknown @ 11:51 AM
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