NASA Grapples With Computer Glitches
NASA crews made progress early Thursday in troubleshooting computer glitches and planned to proceed with the robotic handoff of the international space station's 11/2-ton packing crate.
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SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP) - U.S. astronaut Susan Helms hooked up a laptop computer and found that one of three computers needed to perform robotics action was up and running. Its two backups were still down, but the laptop hookup restored Mission Control's ability to monitor station systems and send computer commands.
``We have the data,' she said.
``You are making my day. It's been a long night,' flight controller Bob Castle said from Mission Control.
NASA spokesman James Hartsfield said the laptops were sending information from the station computers to the ground so officials could analyze the problems that delayed the handoff, originally scheduled for Wednesday.
He said officials planned to go ahead Thursday with a new robot arm's handoff of its packing crate to a smaller, older arm attached to space shuttle Endeavour in a test of its ability to lift and hand off a load.
Officials said the glitch was not a crisis and that all other systems on the station were operating correctly.
Flight controllers sent both crews to bed Wednesday night in hopes of having the problem solved when the crews awoke early Thursday.
But they determined overnight that they needed help from Helms and U.S. astronaut Jim Voss, both aboard the station for a 41/2-month stay with Russian cosmonaut and commander Yuri Usachev.
Space station Alpha has three control-and-command computers - one main computer and two backups - that must link up with a hard-drive server needed to test the new 58-foot robot arm. On Wednesday, none of those computers would link up with the server.
NASA said the station crew could, if necessary, use equipment aboard the station to build a new computer and load the necessary software.
Or, Helms and Voss could reboot one or all three of the computers as a last resort. This option would erase all clues as to what went wrong, said Mike Rodriggs, Mission Control's top computer technician.
Flight controllers' efforts to get one of the command-and-control computers working Wednesday caused Mission Control to lose its main communications link with Alpha. Messages for the three space station residents had to be relayed through Endeavour.
Engineers said the problem almost certainly is related to software.
The problem also postponed plans for Endeavour to raise Alpha's orbit by a few miles. The space station could not be commanded to turn off its steering system so Endeavour could assume control over the joined spacecraft.
Hartsfield said NASA planned to complete that task on Thursday as well.
The new arm, built by Canada, is a high-tech construction crane that officials say is critical to add pieces to Alpha over the next 15 to 20 years.
Endeavour delivered the arm to Alpha on Saturday, and Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield and U.S. astronaut Scott Parazynski installed and wired up the new arm during two spacewalks Sunday and Tuesday.
``We have the data,' she said.
``You are making my day. It's been a long night,' flight controller Bob Castle said from Mission Control.
NASA spokesman James Hartsfield said the laptops were sending information from the station computers to the ground so officials could analyze the problems that delayed the handoff, originally scheduled for Wednesday.
He said officials planned to go ahead Thursday with a new robot arm's handoff of its packing crate to a smaller, older arm attached to space shuttle Endeavour in a test of its ability to lift and hand off a load.
Officials said the glitch was not a crisis and that all other systems on the station were operating correctly.
Flight controllers sent both crews to bed Wednesday night in hopes of having the problem solved when the crews awoke early Thursday.
But they determined overnight that they needed help from Helms and U.S. astronaut Jim Voss, both aboard the station for a 41/2-month stay with Russian cosmonaut and commander Yuri Usachev.
Space station Alpha has three control-and-command computers - one main computer and two backups - that must link up with a hard-drive server needed to test the new 58-foot robot arm. On Wednesday, none of those computers would link up with the server.
NASA said the station crew could, if necessary, use equipment aboard the station to build a new computer and load the necessary software.
Or, Helms and Voss could reboot one or all three of the computers as a last resort. This option would erase all clues as to what went wrong, said Mike Rodriggs, Mission Control's top computer technician.
Flight controllers' efforts to get one of the command-and-control computers working Wednesday caused Mission Control to lose its main communications link with Alpha. Messages for the three space station residents had to be relayed through Endeavour.
Engineers said the problem almost certainly is related to software.
The problem also postponed plans for Endeavour to raise Alpha's orbit by a few miles. The space station could not be commanded to turn off its steering system so Endeavour could assume control over the joined spacecraft.
Hartsfield said NASA planned to complete that task on Thursday as well.
The new arm, built by Canada, is a high-tech construction crane that officials say is critical to add pieces to Alpha over the next 15 to 20 years.
Endeavour delivered the arm to Alpha on Saturday, and Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield and U.S. astronaut Scott Parazynski installed and wired up the new arm during two spacewalks Sunday and Tuesday.
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