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After a Space Shuttle astronaut threatened to not come back unless he had more time to work on his experiment, NASA put a padlock on the airlock door and only the mission commander had the key. (arstechnica.com)

submitted 10 months ago by FlyingSquid to c/interestingasfuck

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On the second day of the mission, Wang floated over to his experiment and sought to activate the Drop Dynamics Module. But it didn't work. He asked the NASA flight controllers on the ground if he could take some time to try to troubleshoot the problem and maybe fix the experiment. But on any Shuttle mission, time is precious. Every crew member has a detailed timeline, with a long list of tasks during waking hours. The flight controllers were reluctant.

After initially being told no, Wang pressed a bit further. "Listen, I know my system very well," he said. "Give me a shot." Still, the flight controllers demurred. Wang grew desperate. So he said something that chilled the nerves of those in Houston watching over the safety of the crew and the Shuttle mission.

"Hey, if you guys don't give me a chance to repair my instrument, I'm not going back," Wang said.

...

So in the immediate aftermath, someone at NASA, probably within the crew office, initiated the capability of a commander to lock the hatch if he or she felt uncomfortable about a crew member. It was used frequently in subsequent missions involving payload specialists.

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[–] [email protected] 104 points 10 months ago (2 children)

This is the lock picking lawyer and today we have a padlock on an airlock. Now, this is extremely difficult due to its location, but the lock itself is nothing more than a master lock that you can just bang on the side here, and it’s open. To show that it wasn’t a fluke…

[–] SzethFriendOfNimi 22 points 10 months ago

WARNING: Explosive Decompression Immi….

[–] [email protected] 13 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

My favorite are the firearm locks he picks with lego

[–] [email protected] 23 points 10 months ago (1 children)

In all seriousness, you can't be completely certain that anyone isn't going to suddenly lose their shit, whether in space or on the ground. Nobody is "immune" to mental health difficulties, and in especially risky conditions, there should always be some barriers between "normal operations" and "catastrophic shit-losing."

[–] shalafi 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Space dementia is a real thing. I saw a documentary about that.

[–] FlyingSquid 8 points 10 months ago

[–] someguy3 19 points 10 months ago (1 children)

It was used frequently in subsequent missions involving payload specialists.

I would like to know more.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

The article was in depth, but absolutely fit the bill of "interesting as fuck".

"Payload specialists" were essentially passengers. They had basic training but were not professional astronauts. Their main job was to perform experiments, not operate the spacecraft.

After Wang nearly lost his shit commanders on the next few missions locked the hatch. After the complicated Apollo hatch led to ... problems NASA started making hatches that were easy to open, perhaps too easy. One astronaut described it as flipping a switch, turning a wheel once, and letting all the air out. Those commanders didn't want someone going apeshit and killing everyone. Ironically the payload specialists weren't the biggest threat.

They don't make it super clear in the article but astronauts at the time we're getting basically every drug and medicine that wouldn't impair their work to test their effects in microgravity. On a later mission a professional astronaut had a bad reaction to one of the drugs he'd been given and had to be restrained by his crew mates from taking "drastic action".

TL;DR: Space is scary, yo.

[–] Toto 16 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Great read

[–] FlyingSquid 10 points 10 months ago

Right? I actually put off something else I was doing because I didn't want to stop reading the article.

[–] RealFknNito 9 points 10 months ago (2 children)

"I want to finish my shit" "No" "Okay I'm not coming back until I finish my shit." "Oh my god he's lost his mind!"

Instead of just thinking the guy was determined to complete what he went to fucking space for they just went right to the whacko conclusion.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago

If I'm ever in space I'm going to be extra wary of any behavior that makes someone as not a team player. Preferably we would have no eccentricities and we would just go up and come right back without learning anything.

What am I saying. I don't know shit. I just would never put myself in that situation.

[–] FlyingSquid 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

To be fair, we don't know very many details.

[–] RealFknNito 3 points 10 months ago

Sure but it definitely sounds more like a "just give me more time" than a "I'm going to actively sabotage the mission for this."

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

He doesn't seem to understand the gravity of this situation.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago

It must be hard to manage the situation in space.