MY TRIP TO KENNEDY SPACE CENTER

Hello again.

I just returned from KSC [Kennedy Space Center] where I traveled in support of our RAHF drinking water system effort and the fix of our light bulb problem. I also assisted one of my fellow Ames engineers in testing and submitting for flight some of our video harware we will be using in the mission.

Our RAHF systems require that we provide our animals with the best water possible. In order to do this we monitor the bacteria growth in the RAHF systems.

Since the RAHFs are integrated in the SPACELAB now, it takes a little more effort to check our water system as compared to two or three months ago. We must follow clean room operations so as to limit and keep at a minimum the amount of foreign debris our personal bodies may give off.

What we did on the RAHFs was straightforward. We checked the bacteria growth, then we drained the RAHF system of water, then we refilled the system with fresh iodinated water. Each RAHF can hold up to approximately 10 liters of water.

Question for the students- What is 10 liters in gallons of water? What is the weight of 10 liters of water?

We use iodine in the water (like what is used in our own drinking water) system so as to prohibit bacteria growth. The trick here is that the iodine will decay in our RAHF systems to a point were the bacteria starts to grow. So we must monitor the water up to launch time. We follow procedures in preparing the water and also when filling the water in the RAHFs.

Allow me to enter a side note: Everything we do in the space effort is documented on drawings and procedures. This allows us to keep a history of what we have done, instructions for operations, and areas for review and improvement. Anything we build to fly in space is controlled by an engineering drawing and at times is also controlled by a procedure for a specific test or assembly process.

Chris B. out......