Temperatures listed are in Farenheit, in case some you were wondering why it was almost hot enough to boil water in the shuttle's lab.
Better add 'unbreakable dehumidifiers' to the life support system wish list. Jon "Elf women just the right height to keep my ears warm. Go me!" From: The Very Secret Diary of Gimli, Son of Gloin Astronauts heat up beds to cool off lab CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) --With temperatures of nearly 80 degrees in their laboratory, shuttle Columbia's astronauts had to take unorthodox steps to cool it down, including warming up their sleeping quarters. Columbia's lab began heating up almost a week ago after a pair of dehumidifiers broke down. The astronauts managed to get the temperature below 80 degrees by directing the flow of cool air from the crew cabin into the lab, back in the payload bay. But that wasn't enough. Over the weekend, Mission Control asked whether the astronauts would mind if their sleeping bunks got a little warmer in order to get more cool air flowing into the lab. Commander Rick Husband said that would be fine. The warming temperatures affected other shuttle passengers as well. Soon after the breakdown happened, astronauts removed the sound-reducing covers from the cages of experimental rats to keep the animals as cool as possible. John Charles, a NASA scientist at Mission Control, said all 13 rats appeared to be doing fine. In addition to the rodents, Columbia is carrying spiders, silkworms, carpenter bees, harvester ants and fish during a rare flight devoted solely to science. Nevertheless, the balmy temperature in orbit was the envy of flight controllers working in Greenbelt, Maryland, which on Monday had high temperatures in the low 20s and a wind chill that made it seem like in the teens. Columbia and its crew of six Americans and one Israeli are due back on Earth next weekend. Ilan Ramon, a colonel in Israel's air force, became the first Israeli in space with the launch of Columbia on January 16. ------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
