Guests: John Batchelor, Bill Harwood, Dr. David Livingston. Topics: ISS leak and record speed for Soyuz to ISS.
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John Batchelor and I welcomed back Bill Harwood of CBS News to discuss both the leak on the ISS that has yet to be repaired plus the last Soyuz flight to the ISS carrying an American Astronaut and the record breaking time it took to get to the ISS which was about 3 hours 4 minutes. The next American astronauts will be going to the ISS on the Crew Dragon and later on the Boeing CST 100. Bill was asked if NASA had a backup plan to get one more Soyuz seat to the ISS should there be lengthy commercial delays. Don't miss what he said about the possibility of a backup seat as it was actually a complex answer to a potentially complex issue. The last American astronaut riding on the Soyuz to the ISS was Kathleen (Kate) Rubins
For the remainder of this Hotel Mars program we discussed the leak on the ISS which has been traced to the Russian Svezda module. While they know where the leak is coming from in a general way, they do not actually know where the leak is located so as of now it has not been repaired. NASA bring up makeup gas to compensate for the leak. That process could continue as long as the leak does not get worse. We talked about the cause of leak, inquiring if the ISS might be suffering from materials fatigue. Bill had lots more to say about the ISS, including stressing how crucial the Russian module is to the ISS operation so the leak does need to be fixed. Bill did say that should the leak worsen it could cause serious damage to the station. Don't miss all of what he had to say.
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You can email Mr. Batchelor or Bill Harwood through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com.
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