Thursday, June 14, 2007
International Space Station computers have failed !
COMPUTERS that control key life-support systems aboard the International Space Station have failed, and in a worst-case scenario could force all crew members to leave.
The failure of the computers, which also control navigation, is a major problem for engineers, called in to determine what caused the problem.
ISS program manager Mike Suffredini tonight admitted the computer failures could, in the worst case, force the crew the leave. But that was not something he was really worried about at this stage, and expected the problems to be fixed within the next couple of days.
"We always have an option to depart," he said.
We are eagerly interested who is the manufacturer of those bad computers?
Russian computers took control, but they failed too, so the ISS could float to open space. Hail to bad hardware.
Russian space officials were "cautiously optimistic" the problems in the German-built computers that run Russian software could be solved, a Roskosmos official was quoted as saying.
The six computers were restarted on Thursday and worked for three hours before breaking down again, Russian media reported.
No cause for the problem has been established but a leading theory cited by Russian officials has been electronic "noise" caused by magnetic fields from nearby cables that may have increased once the new solar panel was attached.
