A piece of equipment costing $154 million gets tripped up by rubber grommets and bolts worth a couple of dollars.
Astronauts tinker with urine-to-water machine
HOUSTON (AP) - Astronauts tinkered Sunday with a troublesome piece of equipment designed to help convert urine and sweat into drinkable water, which is vital to allowing the international space station crew to double to six.
Station commander Michael Fincke and space shuttle Endeavour astronaut Donald Pettit changed how a centrifuge is mounted in a urine processor, which is part of the newly delivered $154 million water recovery system. The centrifuge is a spinning device that helps separate the water from urine.
It was on rubber grommets to reduce vibrations, and Mission Control asked Fincke to remove them and just bolt the piece down.
"We're very hopeful for this, and if not, we have a few other tricks up our sleeves," Fincke said from the space station after the task was finished.
A piece of equipment costing $154 million gets tripped up by rubber grommets and bolts worth a couple of dollars.
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