One of the U.S. gyrodynes on the International Space Station has been repaired and put back into operation

Saturday, December 7, 2019

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One of the U.S. gyrodynes on the International Space Station, disconnected Sunday due to a malfunction, has been repaired and put back into operation, the Russian space agency said Tuesday. Gyrodynes are used to maintain the ISS's orientation in orbit. At least two gyrodynes need to be in working order for the station to remain correctly positioned, but all four must be fully operational for the station to be stable, otherwise it must burn additional fuel and risks losing its communication link with the Earth. "A one-time malfunction occurred in the power supply system of gyrodyne No.2 on the American segment of the ISS, as well as in the communications system. The gyrodyne was stopped, and there were interruptions in communication with the American segment. The malfunction did not lead to a loss of orientation by the station or an operation failure of the ISS's Russian segment," press secretary Igor Panarin said. The current crew of the world's sole orbital station comprises U.S. astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, who arrived at the station on September 20, and U.S. astronaut Sunita Williams, who replaced the European Space Agency's German astronaut Thomas Reiter in December 2006, and who will remain on the ISS for another several months.

Bookmark One of the U.S. gyrodynes on the International Space Station has been repaired and put back into operation