brgracer

iTrader: (14)

Nice to know that whether it's a multi-billion dollar spaceship or a 20 year old miata, the same thing works.....brute force....haha. Oh and my favorite part, when he finally gets the bolt out and reaches for his power drill to move on to the next step, the battery is dead. Classic.

Hubble obstacles hamper spacewalk - Los Angeles Times

Saml01

iTrader: (9)

Ha ha, thats gotta suck.

But seriously 111 screws? Come on. Really, wheres the panel gonna go?

thymer

iTrader: (5)

you would have thought the device would have been constructed to be a little easier to maintain in space???

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

I'm surprised Abe hasn't chimed in. He's the one who designs satellite payloads for a living.

skidude

iTrader: (3)

That's good, I'm glad that brute force is acceptable by nasa... though they did have to specially approve that method first.

Why was there a handrail on a space telescope that could be removed? If it's there to hang on to on earth, they don't need it anymore, and if it's there to hang on to during repair missions then they probably shouldn't remove it to do a repair mission.

Saml01

iTrader: (9)

If I had to guess I bet it was used to strap the thing down when it was in the cargo hold, otherwise non essential.

Stein

iTrader: (46)

In this case, from what I heard on the radio, it was never intended to be serviced in space.

cueball1

iTrader: (13)

Making parts overly complicated and difficult to service is what happens when WAAYYY too many engineers design something without any input from mechanics or service personnel. Too many big brains, not enough practicality. (every try changing spark plugs in a 300zx turbo?) NASA repeatedly makes the mistake of thinking parts won't need servicing or vastly over (and under) estimating the usable life span of what it sends up. I realize it's hugely complicated stuff but how long have they been doing this?

I loved when the Hubble first went up. All the excitement and celebration when it was launched. Then the turn it on and realize the most expensive, perfect and miraculous telescope ever created needed eyeglasses! Classic fail!

pdexta

iTrader: (17)

I'm calling BS on that quote. I've got a feeling they may have paraphrased a bit, haha.

boileralum

iTrader: (8)

Spark plugs in a 300zx turbo are about the only haflway simple maintenance item on the car.

Unplug the 6 coil packs
Remove 12 12mm bolts on the coil packs (2 per coil), 1 12mm bolt and 2 12mm nuts on the balance bar
remove coil packs
remove spark plugs
installation is the reverse of removal

Changing the injectors, on the other hand, is a royal PITA (as is most every other upgrade on the car).

rleete

iTrader: (21)

Not only the engineers, but the scientists, too. I work in solar, and every gov't in the world that can afford it is pumping money into all sorts of projects. This brings out all the nutty concept designs, which are sent to us for quote. You wouldn't believe some of the crazy **** we've seen in the past couple of months. No way in hell to make it, no matter how much money you pour into it. I think we have had to "no quote" about 3/4 of the stuff coming in these days. Sure, you can draw it with the pretty ray-trace program, but it's impossible to manufacture one, let alone put it into volume production.