BCC's: Photo worth a look if you haven't seen it. 300 kB. > As far as I'm aware NASA has dumped the MMU and its no > longer carried, > EVA's where they want to go places now use the manipulator > arm in its > place. > Are you saying that if an astronaut is knocked away from > the shuttle, > there is no plan for retrieving said astronaut ? I believe the intention was to say that there is never any chance of them being knocked away. ie they are always tethered. Tether discipline would be similar to safety line discipline for construction workers who use them - but the result of getting it terminally wrong would be a slower but more certain death and a lack of need for burial and guaranteed auto-cremation in due course. I suspect that tether discipline is enforced utterly rigorously as part of standard utterly inviolate checklists. If you've ever seen the procedure for eg installing a screw in a satellite under assembly you'll get the idea. This photo http://others.servebeer.com/misc/Kaikourateabreak.jpg which, alas, I did not take, clearly shows the sort of gear involved. Kaikoura ("food from the sea") is in fact under the large patch of cloud at top centre. The name is appropriate. It also happens, not totally coincidentally to be the closest location on earth which a deep ocean valley comes to land. Whales love to dive down the valley to the ocean depths to browse and then come back up the valley to sound in the coastal shallows. Why they like to do this in preference to just deep diving from any point I don't know. But it's entirely clear from the actions of the whales and the tourist whale-watch operators that this is the place to be seen. Here, unlike anywhere else in NZ, or possibly in the world, you can stand in a little layby on the coastal roadside (if you know where) and watch the whales come up to sound, play on the surface relatively briefly and then disappear again to get afternoon tea. (Binoculars help - a boat helps more). Moving tight along - The axis in the photo points to just slightly north of where my son presently lives. Alternative title is "Fire in the hole" But that would be a few minutes hence - "The Beehive" is under the box on the mast at right top, and should be in line of fire shortly. Russell > In times past they always had one on board and they reckon > that they > could have used one to inspect columbia (what good it > would have done > them i don't know) > > Mike Hord wrote: >> Typically, astronauts are either attached to a >> manipulator arm or they >> wear a jet pack device called a manned manuvering unit >> (MMU). >> >> I don't know if they still carry a brick in their pocket >> as a last >> resort >> as they were reputed to have done during the earlier >> missions. >> >> Mike H. >> >> On Mon, Mar 3, 2008 at 12:54 PM, Cedric Chang >> wrote: >> >>> I just some photos of EVA and it did not appear that the >>> astronauts >>> were tethered or had safety lines. What happens if an >>> astronaut >>> floats away ? Do they have jet packs ? -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist