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Broken box stalls space station experiments
By Richard Stenger
(CNN) -- A major scientific component on the international space station has broken, preventing the station's new residents from conducting about one-fourth of their scheduled research, NASA said. The equipment, known as the Microgravity Science Glovebox, allows astronauts to insert gloved hands into a refrigerator-size laboratory and safely handle sealed samples, including dangerous materials that are molten or combustible. NASA and its international partners hope that the faulty parts can be fixed on the ground, but they cannot be returned to the station until at least mid-February. The problem with the turnaround time is that the current space station crew, which arrived in orbit two weeks ago, plans to leave the station March 1. The astronaut most affected by the loss is space station science officer Don Pettit, a last-minute crew replacement who expected to use the glovebox for three experiments. "We don't know for sure [if] he'll be able to do any of them," said James Hartsfield, a NASA spokesman. The glovebox would have accounted for 25 percent of research time during the four-month stint of Pettit, fellow U.S. astronaut Ken Bowersox and Russian cosmonaut Nikolai Budarin. "That does not mean that these were the highest priority experiments," Hartsfield said. "These are hands-on activities, so they require a lot of crew time." On November 20, the glovebox experienced a sudden loss of power during an experiment. Attempts to power it back up failed, and the space shuttle Endeavour returned to Earth last week with the glovebox's power box and other electronic parts. They have been sent to the Netherlands for testing and repair to the manufacturer, a contractor of the European Space Agency. If the problem is identified and corrected in time, replacement parts could fly on an unmanned Russian Progress supply ship that departs in late February. If not, the next possible flight would be the space shuttle mission that brings home Pettit, Bowersox and Budarin in March. NASA remains upbeat despite the glitch. Pettit has 18 non-glovebox experiments in the works, which may benefit from his extra time. Moreover, he and his orbiting colleagues are in the process of reworking their schedules to minimize the glovebox downtime. "There's not going to be any research lost in the long-term here," Hartsfield said. "The to-do list is always much longer than time available." One chore on this week's schedule is a spacewalk. Bowersox and Buradin plan to step outside for more than six hours Thursday to prepare the station for future construction missions.
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