By DPA,
Washington: Astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS) were Wednesday struggling with a faulty valve on a newly installed ammonia tank, NASA said.
The new tank, which was installed Sunday by visiting Discovery astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson, is vital to keeping the station’s cooling system working.
“Mission control was having a problem activating the new ammonia tank. A stuck valve in one of the nitrogen pressurisation lines is thought to be the problem,” NASA spokeswoman Katherine Trinidad said.
“The closed valve won’t allow nitrogen to pressurise the ammonia system that cools the station,” she said, adding that the station crew was not in any danger and the joint mission with Discovery astronauts was continuing as planned.
Last week NASA extended Discovery’s mission by one day to allow the crew to inspect the shuttle’s heat shield while still docked at the ISS. Discovery is now slated to land at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida Monday at 8:54 am (1824 IST).
The US space agency is scheduled to retire the ageing space shuttle fleet later this year after three remaining missions.