Tom Ridge in Space: Duct Tape Used On Shuttle Mission.

[NNadir]

Duct Tape Suggested for Spacewalk Repair

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- Even in space, a little duct tape may work wonders. Astronaut Piers Sellers suggested using some of the multipurpose sticky material to fix a safety-jet backpack used during spacewalks after it almost came loose from him while he repaired the international space station.

''Right now, is there some kind of tape fix that you guys could think about that would be helpful?'' Sellers asked Mission Control Tuesday morning, a day after the propulsive backpack started to come loose during his spacewalk with astronaut Mike Fossum.

Fossum had to tether the device to Sellers to keep it from flying away.

The jet backpack, nicknamed SAFER, is worn by every astronaut during a spacewalk. It allows an astronaut to propel himself or herself to safety in an emergency, for instance if a tether or foot restraint holding the astronaut in place breaks.

The two connecting devices of Sellers' backpack attachment, designed to be used if an astronaut floats free, loosened at different times, but he was never in danger of losing it, NASA officials said...

...For Wednesday's spacewalk, the astronauts planned to test whether a sealant can be used to repair damaged pieces of the space shuttle's thermal protection system. The technique was developed to make sure there's never a repeat of the Columbia accident that killed seven astronauts in 2003.

The six astronauts of Discovery, along with the three space station crew members, planned to spend most of Tuesday packing up science experiments, trash and unneeded equipment to take back to Earth...

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Space-Shuttle.html

[LiberalEsto]

1. Does someone in the B*sh family own stock in duct tape?

First for sealing your home against terrorists, then fixing the space shuttle.

Another excellent use for duct tape would be slapping some on the mouths of everyone in the Misadministration, as well as Rush Limpballs, O'Lielly, Annethrax and the other rightwint pundits.

[hippiechick]

2. I must say, I use ALOT of duct tape around the house ...

... but I don't ever expect it to save me from a terra attack.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Nothing new - duct tape got Apollo 13 back

There was, of course, a fix; and it came in the form of an ingenious combination of suit hoses, cardboard, plastic stowage bags, and CSM canisters - all held together with a liberal application of gray duct tape.

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a13/a13.summary.html

Surely everyone here's watched the movie? I would have thought it was required material for teh DU Science forum.

[NNadir]

4. No that you mention it, I recall that. Tom Ridge was on Apollo?

Of course, in Apollo 13 the duct tape was being use to prevent the astronauts from asphixiating themselves, by circulating the air, and removing a contaminant. In the Tom Ridge school of engineering, no provisions were made for letting the oxygen in.