All
Suppliers
Products
CAD Models
Diverse Suppliers
Insights
By Category, Company or Brand
All Regions
Alabama
Alaska
Alberta
Arizona
Arkansas
British Columbia
California - Northern
California - Southern
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Manitoba
Maryland
Massachusetts - Eastern
Massachusetts - Western
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Brunswick
New Hampshire
New Jersey - Northern
New Jersey - Southern
New Mexico
New York - Metro
New York - Upstate
Newfoundland & Labrador
North Carolina
North Dakota
Northwest Territories
Nova Scotia
Nunavut
Ohio - Northern
Ohio - Southern
Oklahoma
Ontario
Oregon
Pennsylvania - Eastern
Pennsylvania - Western
Prince Edward Island
Puerto Rico
Quebec
Rhode Island
Saskatchewan
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas - North
Texas - South
Utah
Vermont
Virgin Islands
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Yukon

Robot Sniffs Out Space Station Leaks

Jeff Reinke
1/27/2019 | 5 min read
Subscribe
Robot Sniffs Out Space Station Leaks

Inspecting suspected gas leaks on the International Space Station is, of course, a unique endeavor. The constant balancing act between individual safety and the well-being of the entire vessel places a strain on maintenance and operations personnel and emphasizes the reliability of the key technology and specialized equipment.

Recently, this dynamic was illustrated when those onboard the ISS identified a small leak in the ammonia coolant loop. More information about the nature of the leak was needed, but that would entail a risky spacewalk outside the station by an astronaut.

The solution was to employ the Robotic External Leak Locator (RELL), to "smell" for the leak. The RELL's instruments are capable of detecting the amount and types of gases present in assessing leaks or taking samples of the atmosphere outside of the ISS. These samples provide data on the gases which are usually present and therefore establish a baseline to compare against when assessing possible leaks.

A faulty isolation valve was identified as the source of the leak using this robotic technology. The information gathered by the RELL helped determine that the leak posed no immediate risk to the station or crew. Later, armed with a pinpoint location and more overall information provided by the RELL, ISS personnel were able to execute a highly-organized spacewalk focused on venting, isolating, and repairing the leaking line.

Since initially coming onto the station in 2015, the RELL has logged nearly 190 total hours in space. The same technology could also find greater application in the industrial chemical and gas sector in helping to ensure greater worker safety.

Next Up in Manufacturing & Innovation