October 16, 2007
The More They Complicated the Plumbing...

... the easier it is to stop up the drain:

It is dismaying that after decades of experience with manned space stations, Russian space engineers still couldn't keep unwanted condensation at bay. But what's worse is that they designed circuitry that would allow one spot of corrosion to fell a supposedly triply redundant control computer complex. Another cause for dismay is that when trouble did develop, the Russians' first instinct was to blame their American partners. Such deficiencies need to be worked out in the years ahead, on the space station, before both the technology and the diplomacy can be thought reliable enough for far-ranging missions that replacement shipments wouldn't be able to reach.

Good design is never easy. At least with my systems, if something blows up nobody dies. Not that you could tell by the way they scream about it...

Posted by scott at October 16, 2007 11:02 AM

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