You ’ve see the chronicle of how duct tape saved Apollo 13 * , but that ’s not the only time tape has come to the saving in space . Here are some of the ridiculously cool ways mag tape make life far , far good in low Earth eye socket and beyond .
First Things First: Which Tape Is Best?
canal tape , right ? Not so tight .
Even when an astronaut knows the solution to their problem is tapeline , the question persist : which tape measure should they use ? Two type of tape measure are peculiarly common in astronauts ’ tool case . The first is grey tape , which is just astronaut - lingo for canal tape . The 2nd is Kapton tape ( aka polyimide tape),which is essentially electrical tape but advantageously . you may ascertain either eccentric of tape for sale at computer hardware stores here on Earth , but the tapes that astronauts convey to quad are tested extensively to ensure they do n’t produce any off - gases ( baffling , if you ’re in an enclosed space ) , or demean in the harsh exterior of the home ground .
“ That ’s no cock-a-hoop wad as long as it work . Grey tape would ’ve taken five minutes , and using Kapton meant the task have 40 minutes . We need to get a handle on the anal - retentive engineering approaching to everything . ”
With that , here are some of the gaga ways tape has kept life moving swimmingly in outer space .
Keeping Astronauts’ Feet On The Floor (Even In Microgravity)
Grey tape kept this triangular cleat on the shoe of a Skylab 4 crew member. Image credit:NASA
NASA ’s Skylab space station had a special gridded floor that reserve astronauts to lock in with cleat shoes . The system keep on astronauts cast anchor in post , letting them quell stable without float forth . But the cleated shoes did n’t always live up to the structural demands the spaceman placed on them ( imagine the astronaut - equivalent of breaking the spike off a brace of killer cad on date night ) . But with a few wrap of gray tape , the cleats could be reaffixed to the shoes , liberate the astronauts to work on more interesting microgravity experiments .
Corralling Kitchen Scraps
NASA astronaut Sandra Magnus keeps a roll of grey tape on-hand to contain kitchen scraps, while a roll of kapton tape floats behind her. Image credit:NASA
Thearrival of saucy food in space is always a treasured day by astronaut , but without tape , it ’d be a 24-hour interval filled with culinary tragedy . In an interview with The Atlantic , astronaut Sandra Mangus explain the function of grey-headed tape recording in try out with how to become ingredients into new meals :
“ [ Cooking ] take hours , so I could only do it on the weekend , ” she says . “ Why hours ? Think about one thing : when you make , how often you befuddle thing in a trash can . How can you do that ? Because gravity allow you throw things in the crank . Without somberness , you have to figure out what to do . I put the trash on a piece of epithelial duct tape — duct taping is awesome — but even grapple with the trash choose forever . ”
Giving The First American Spacewalker A Single, Secure Tether
NASA astronaut Edward H. White II on the first American spacewalk with his umbilical line and tether line neatly taped into a single golden cord. Image credit:NASA
When astronaut Edward H. White II first stepped outside his craft during the Gemini - Titan 4 spaceflight , he became the first American spacewalker . To keep his equipment as sizable and non - distracting as possible , his 25 - foot umbilical channel and his 23 - foot tether were joined into a single looping electric cord by wrapping them in prosperous Kapton tapeline .
Making Tables Practical In Zero Gravity
Tape makes tables far more practical than they would otherwise be in zero gravity. Image credit:NASA
Everything float in space , which variety of obviates the want for expectant , flat surfaces like tables . Astronauts on the International Space Station make tables utilitarian again with build up - in straps used to rapier object against the table , but also by harnessing the joy of tape . The tapeline can be flick around to be viscous - side - out and held to the board with scraps of grey tape ( like the strip holding the spoonful in the picture ) , or with tidy square toes of three-fold - sided tape ( like the squares defend the wipes and bottle ) . Alas , it does limit the options onsetting a fancy mesa to lionize the holidays .
Preventing the Untimely Escape of Emergency Jetpacks
NASA astronauts Piers Seller and Michael Fossum working on the station’s freshly-installed Starboard Truss, with occasional breaks to re-secure the tape keeping Seller’s emergency jetpack firmly locked to his suit. Image credit:NASA
One of my favourite uses for tape on the ISS is the way astronauts use it to contain things in home that already have specially - contrive mechanics to keep them in spot . font in compass point ? During the second spacewalk of the STS 121 mission , astronaut Piers Seller ’s emergency jetpack tried to break away after the latches pop open . When he was safely back in the station , he asked foreign mission control , “ the right way now , is there some kind of tape fix that you guys could think about that would be helpful ? ” They did : his companions liberally applied Kapton tape to keep the latch firmly close before he headed out the crosshatch on the third spacewalk a few day after . They ’d picked Kapton over grey-haired tape for its smoother surface , so it would slip instead of catch if he bumped into anything , but the mechanically strong grey tape may have been a sound pick since his spacewalk - chum Michael Fossum needed to repeatedly re - secure the tape .
The spaceman should ’ve used the tape recording a bit more generously in batten down their belongings . Partway through the EVA , a spatula broke free of its lead and float into space . The astronauts had been using the spatulas to smear heat - resistant easy lay into a advisedly damaged heat shield as part of a materials experiment . After search his worksite , the grieving Seller lament , “ No sign of the spatula , guy , it is run , gone , gone , ” before confessing , “ That was my preferred spatch … don’t tell the other spatulas . ”
Emergency Fender Repairs (When The Closest Autoshop is 384,400 km Away)
Apollo 17 astronauts and moonbuggy in the Taurus-Littrow valley. Image credit:NASA
During the first EVA of the Apollo 17 Moon landing place , a hammer in astronaut Eugene Cernan ’s shin pocket snag on the rearward right pilot of the lunar rover and deplume it partly off . A conversation between astronaut Cernan and Harrison Schmitt captures the initial repair attempt :
Cernan : “ And I detest to say it , but I ’m going to have to take some metre to try … to get that buffer back on . Jack , is the tape under my rear end , do you remember ? ”
Schmitt : “ Yes . ”
Cernan : “ Okay . I ca n’t say I ’m very adept at putting fender back on . But I sure do n’t require to start without it . I ’m just go to put a couple of firearm of undecomposed honest-to-goodness - fashioned American gray tape on it … (and ) see whether we ca n’t check that it stay . ”
Cernan : “ … good old - fashioned grey tape does n’t want to stick very well . ” ( He afterward explain during a post - flight briefing : “ Because there was rubble on everything , once you drive a piece of music of taping off the rolling wave , the first matter the taping stuck to was dust ; and then it did n’t baffle to anything else . ” )
Cernan : “ I am done ! If that buffer stays on … I ’d like some kind of heal award . ”
He did n’t garner the laurels : his repair chore worked for the remainder of the first EVA , but later failed .
With only half a pilot to keep it contained , fine lunar rubble was thrown up in cloud , stick to spacesuits , abrading visors , and obturate visibility . The cock tails of rubble caused enough problems that the astronaut called home for aid on fender - repair . Down in Mission Control , astronaut John Young suggestedrepurposing a lunar mapping into a replacement buffer , held in billet with clamps from the optical alinement telescope and a liberal coating of grey tape . The crew performed the MacGuyverish repair early on in EVA-2 , and it worked perfectly for the rest period of the geographic expedition near the Hector Hevodidbon - Littrow landing site .
A lunar map, telescope clamps and grey tape were pressed into service to repair a broken fender on the lunar rover. Image credit:NASA/Eugene Cernan
Bypassing Malfunctioning Safety Equipment
NASA astronaut Richard A. Searfoss performing in-flight maintenance to get the Regenerative Carbon Dioxide Removal System to calm down and stop beeping. Image credit:NASA
Few things are as aggravating as safety gear sounding an alarm when everything is just fine . On April 24 , 1998 , the Regenerative Carbon Dioxide Removal System on the Space Shuttle Columbia shut down , triggering alarms and ruining any fortune of eternal sleep . After installing backup lithium hydroxide canisters to keep the tune good while they cultivate , the crew found that a leaky check valve in the air - scrub system was befuddle off the electronics control condition unit . This should ’ve been a mission - ending problem , but with a one - inch patch of aluminum taping and a dash of ingenuity , astronautRichard Searfoss removed a hose clamp and used tape to bypass the leaky valve .
Expanding The Toolbox
Needle-nose pliers and ahockey-stick shaped toolwrapped in insulating tape in anticipation of EVAs during the construction of the space station. Image credits:NASA/NASA
Forget custom , heavy , expensive insulate handles : just wrapping tools in electrically - insulating Kapton tape measure , instead , to quash zapping astronauts or shorting geartrain . The NASA archive are full of magnetic tape - twine tools used for extravehicular activities during construction of the International Space Station .
NASA astronaut Robert L. Curbeam Jr. weilding a tape-wrapped tool to tuck an array wing back in its blanket box. Image credit:NASA
BeforeNASA started 3D printing twist in space , grayish tape was also a central component to hacking together new tools as - needed . When cosmonaut Stephen Robinson ventured out for the first in - orbit reparation of a place bird , he was to pull off two pieces of filler stuck to Discovery ’s venter . He was instructed to first sample yank it off with his finger , then plyers , but if those fail , to use a hack saw built in - orbit from a deliberately - bent blade , plastic ties , velcro , and grey magnetic tape .
tapeline itself can even be a tool : Astronaut Daniel Tani used Kapton tape to collect samples of occupy grit off a joint that positions the massive solar array power the ISS .
Bringing The Holidays Into Orbit
The Skylab 4 Christmas tree is oddly retro-modern charming. Image credit:NASA
In 1973 , the gang of Skylab 4 decided that it just was n’t Christmas without a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , so it built one out of empty food cans and tape .
Fixing Leaky Pipes
Astronaut Dominic Gorie interactions with zero-g fluids go beyond toying with candy trapped in droplets. Image credit:NASA
When a pipe under the Space Shuttle ’s mid - deck started leak , astronaut Dominic Gorie tried out as a plumber by envelop the pipe in towels , then holding it all in post with channel tape .
Doing All The Same Things Tape Does Here On Earth
Why use specially-designed bolts and brackets when tape will work just as well on Endeavour’s aft flight deck? Image credit:NASA
Tape is n’t just for fix matter . Sometimes , it ’s an intentional , design design feature for keeping things in place . From float mesh in the biology experiment box to surround brackets to full velcro - taping go up organisation , the space post relies on tape to keep just about everything from drifting where it should n’t .
Roscosmos astronaut Yuri I. Malenchenko taping brackets for the Zvezda Module . range of a function credit : NASA
NASA astronaut Doug Hurley taping shut a supply bag on the space shuttle Atlantis. Image credit:NASA
Along with all the coolheaded tricks tape does only out in space , it also performs the same mundane functions it does here on Earth like closing bags and seal packages .
Even astronauts think tape cool enough for victory photos: Christopher Cassidy, Dave Wolf, and Tom Marshburn pause for a photo op on the middeck of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Image credit:NASA
But even more importantly , it can be used to affix greenback , allowing astronauts to razz each other with painful poesy even when the backup crew is being keep far off from the launch fomite .
NASA astronauts and backup crew for Gemini-9A and James A. Lovell Jr. and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. left a teasing note of encouragement taped to the spacecraft for the primary crew Thomas P. Stafford and Eugene A. Cernan. Image credit:NASA
- What ’s that ? You have n’t find out it ? Well . Here ’s the story about howApollo 13 astronaut used Charles Grey tape to jibe a square pin in a round cakehole .
When the air system died during Apollo 13 , the only way to keep the astronauts breathing was to determine a way to fit a square filter in a round filter - one-armed bandit with spate of duct magnetic tape to maintain the seal of approval . Image cite : NASA
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