Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by akira2501 925 days ago
I've been looking for it, but NASA apparently likes to fully wipe any historical documentation off their site once every few years. After 20 minutes of this, I'm sorry to say, I'm way to frustrated to continue. I can't believe NASA is still this bad at holding onto history. Would a redirect have killed them?

It was in a single STS missions space walk manual. It was the literal "sequence of events" manual. It had the timeline for the entire mission, the absolute procedure for every single movement, down to where to put your feet, which handrail number you were to grab with your hands, and where exactly your tethers where to be for each movement.

The case I remember reading had to do with unbolting and replacing a piece of equipment. If my memory serves me correctly it had to do with the cooling system and either an upgrade or maintenance replacement.

In that specific section, it had a small note, for the astronaut and for their handler on board, about the maximum rate at which the bolt could be wrenched. It specifically called out vibration throughout the station as a particular factor. this may have been related to the position of the equipment, which should have been on one of the solar and cooling support spars, and not directly on a habitat module.

Anyways, it stuck in my mind because as I started reading the document, it just kept getting into deeper and more specific detail about every single aspect of the mission, when I finally arrived at the bolt movement section, I was completely taken aback. I wish I would have had the good sense to archive it for myself.

If you've got the time and better skills that my outdated google fu, you should be able to track it down. I want to say STS130 or STS135. Good luck. Let me know if you find it please.