Astronauts fix the International Space Station using a toothbrush

entropy13 · Sep 6, 2012

A $100 billion space station saved by a simple $3 toothbrush? It was the brainstorm of astronauts Sunita Williams and Akihido Hoshide and NASA engineers on the ground: a tool to clean a bolt that gave them so much trouble during a marathon 8-hour spacewalk last week.

They were trying to replace an electrical switching unit, but on Thursday they couldn't bolt it to the outside of the station.

What to do if there is no hardware store in the neighborhood and the next supply ship is months away? Build it yourself -- so they attached a simple toothbrush to a metal pole and voila! They were able to clean out the bolt's socket today and finish the job. Shades of Apollo 13 -- when engineers threw parts on a table and brainstormed a solution, which saved the crew.

Full article here.

D007 · Sep 6, 2012

lol toothbrushing a hole vs making an air filter from duct tape and all the other crazy stuff the apollo guys did? Not even comparable.. but way to think on your feet peoples.

Solaris17 · Sep 6, 2012

D007 said:
lol toothbrushing a hole vs making an air filter from duct tape and all the other crazy stuff the apollo guys did? Not even comparable.. but way to think on your feet peoples.

Ya not comparible but GJ on the tooth brush.

Drone · Sep 6, 2012

I wonder what do they smoke in space?

Solaris17 · Sep 8, 2012

comet dust shit man do you live under a rock?

INSTG8R · Sep 8, 2012

Solaris17 said:
comet dust shit man do you live under a rock?

Shhh man don't tell everyone. They'll cut off my supply :pimp:

scaminatrix · Sep 8, 2012

They still got nothing on SuperMechanics :laugh:

These guys will fix a car with rocks and string!

de.das.dude · Sep 8, 2012

it would be shameful if they werent the ones thinking of something like this. they are astronauts after all, not some dimwit who barely passed school

GLD · Sep 8, 2012

Another example of fleecing of America. That toothbrush should not have cost $3.

RejZoR · Sep 9, 2012

I often fabricate items to perform some task. Either for car, computer or other items.

ShiBDiB · Sep 9, 2012

scaminatrix said:
They still got nothing on SuperMechanics These guys will fix a car with rocks and string!

Except these guys are floating in space where these ingenious fixes could be life or death events....Besides that sure I agree with whoever the hell ur talking about

scaminatrix · Sep 9, 2012

ShiBDiB said:
Except these guys are floating in space where these ingenious fixes could be life or death events....Besides that sure I agree with whoever the hell ur talking about

And if a SuperMechanic can't fix his car he's stuck in the desert in the middle of nowhere with no way to contact anyone.

Doesn't sound so different from astronauts really.

I'm not going to bother explaining what a SuperMechanic is, I can see you're not even vaguely interested in learning anything :rolleyes:

Solaris17 · Sep 9, 2012

scaminatrix said:
And if a SuperMechanic can't fix his car he's stuck in the desert in the middle of nowhere with no way to contact anyone.

Doesn't sound so different from astronauts really.

I'm not going to bother explaining what a SuperMechanic is, I can see you're not even vaguely interested in learning anything

actually that was flight of the phoenix not a super machanic. and it was the 1965 version I didnt see that other crap.

WhiteLotus · Sep 9, 2012

Drone said:
I wonder what do they smoke in space?

Astro turf

scaminatrix · Sep 9, 2012

Solaris17 said:
actually that was flight of the phoenix not a super machanic. and it was the 1965 version I didnt see that other crap.

Flight of the Phoenix is a film (never watched it myself), I'm talking about a documentary I watched on people in the middle east and their skills in fixing cars with random stuff you find in a desert.

Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 7600
Motherboard	Gigabyte B650 Aorus Elite AX
Cooling	Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE
Memory	Kingston Fury Beast DDR5-5600 16GBx2
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte Gaming OC AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT 16GB
Storage	TEAMGROUP T-Force Z440 2TB, SPower A60 2TB, SPower A55 2TB, Seagate 4TBx2, Samsung 870 2TB
Display(s)	AOC 24G2 + Xitrix WFP-2415
Case	Montech Air X
Audio Device(s)	Realtek onboard
Power Supply	Be Quiet! Pure Power 11 FM 750W 80+ Gold
Mouse	Logitech G304
Keyboard	Redragon K557 KAIA RGB Mechanical Keyboard
Software	Windows 10

System Name	HAL
Processor	Core i9 13900k @5.8-6.1
Motherboard	Z790 Arous master
Cooling	EKWB Quantum Velocity V2 & (2) 360 Corsair XR7 Rads push/pull
Memory	2x 32GB (64GB) Gskill trident 6000 CL30 @28 1T
Video Card(s)	RTX 4090 Gigagbyte gaming OC @ +200/1300
Storage	(M2's) 2x Samsung 980 pro 2TB, 1xWD Black 2TB, 1x SK Hynix Platinum P41 2TB
Display(s)	65" LG OLED 120HZ
Case	Lian Li dyanmic Evo11 with distro plate
Power Supply	Thermaltake 1350
Software	Microsoft Windows 11 x64

System Name	Rocinante
Processor	I9 14900KS
Motherboard	EVGA z690 Dark KINGPIN (modded BIOS)
Cooling	EK-AIO Elite 360 D-RGB
Memory	64GB Gskill Trident Z5 DDR5 6000 @6400
Video Card(s)	MSI SUPRIM Liquid X 4090
Storage	1x 500GB 980 Pro \| 1x 1TB 980 Pro \| 1x 8TB Corsair MP400
Display(s)	Odyssey OLED G9 G95SC
Case	Lian Li o11 Evo Dynamic White
Audio Device(s)	Moondrop S8's on Schiit Hel 2e
Power Supply	Bequiet! Power Pro 12 1500w
Mouse	Lamzu Atlantis mini (White)
Keyboard	Monsgeek M3 Lavender, Akko Crystal Blues
VR HMD	Quest 3
Software	Windows 11
Benchmark Scores	I dont have time for that.

System Name	Rocinante
Processor	I9 14900KS
Motherboard	EVGA z690 Dark KINGPIN (modded BIOS)
Cooling	EK-AIO Elite 360 D-RGB
Memory	64GB Gskill Trident Z5 DDR5 6000 @6400
Video Card(s)	MSI SUPRIM Liquid X 4090
Storage	1x 500GB 980 Pro \| 1x 1TB 980 Pro \| 1x 8TB Corsair MP400
Display(s)	Odyssey OLED G9 G95SC
Case	Lian Li o11 Evo Dynamic White
Audio Device(s)	Moondrop S8's on Schiit Hel 2e
Power Supply	Bequiet! Power Pro 12 1500w
Mouse	Lamzu Atlantis mini (White)
Keyboard	Monsgeek M3 Lavender, Akko Crystal Blues
VR HMD	Quest 3
Software	Windows 11
Benchmark Scores	I dont have time for that.

System Name	Hellbox 5.1(same case new guts)
Processor	Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard	MSI X570S MAG Torpedo Max
Cooling	TT Kandalf L.C.S.(Water/Air)EK Velocity CPU Block/Noctua EK Quantum DDC Pump/Res
Memory	2x16GB Gskill Trident Neo Z 3600 CL16
Video Card(s)	Powercolor Hellhound 7900XTX
Storage	970 Evo Plus 500GB 2xSamsung 850 Evo 500GB RAID 0 1TB WD Blue Corsair MP600 Core 2TB
Display(s)	Alienware QD-OLED 34” 3440x1440 144hz 10Bit VESA HDR 400
Case	TT Kandalf L.C.S.
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster ZX/Logitech Z906 5.1
Power Supply	Seasonic TX~’850 Platinum
Mouse	G502 Hero
Keyboard	G19s
VR HMD	Oculus Quest 2
Software	Win 10 Pro x64

Astronauts fix the International Space Station using a toothbrush

entropy13

D007

Solaris17

Super Dainty Moderator

Drone

Solaris17

Super Dainty Moderator

INSTG8R

Vanguard Beta Tester

scaminatrix

de.das.dude

Pro Indian Modder

GLD

RejZoR

ShiBDiB

scaminatrix

Solaris17

Super Dainty Moderator

WhiteLotus

scaminatrix

System Name	Benny
Processor	Phenom II 1055t @ 3.3GHz; 300x11; 1.380v; NB 2700; HT 2400
Motherboard	ASUS Crosshair IV Formula (2002 BIOS)
Cooling	Thermalright TRUE 120 Black + 2 Xilence Red Wing PWM 120mm (push/pull) + polycarbonate fan holders
Memory	8GB GeIL Ultra 2133MHZ C9 running at 1600MHz @ 7-7-7-21 1T 1.5v
Video Card(s)	MSI Twin Frozr II GTX470 @ Stock w/CPU fan cable-tied on, as one of the GPU fans broke.
Storage	60GB OCZ Agility3 (OS);500GB WDC Grn; 1x1TB WDC Blk (Backup)
Display(s)	ASUS PA823Q
Case	Silverstone Raven 2 (all cables custom sleeved with velcro mod on side panel...)
Audio Device(s)	X-Fi (Onboard) + Harmon Kardon HK6100 amp powering JVC HA-RX700's with Zalman mic
Power Supply	Corsair HX650W
Software	Win7 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores	No benchies so making this space useful! Corsair M90, Logitech G19. Phobya FlexLight LED's (gawjus)

System Name	Monke \| Work Thinkpad\| Old Monke
Processor	Ryzen 5600X \| Ryzen 5500U \| FX8320
Motherboard	ASRock B550 Extreme4 \| ? \| Asrock 990FX Extreme 4
Cooling	240mm Rad \| Not needed \| hyper 212 EVO
Memory	2x16GB DDR4 3600 Corsair RGB \| 16 GB DDR4 3600 \| 16GB DDR3 1600
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Pulse RX6700XT 12GB \| Vega 8 \| Sapphire Pulse RX580 8GB
Storage	Samsung 980 nvme (Primary) \| some samsung SSD
Display(s)	Dell 2723DS \| Some 14" 1080p 98%sRGB IPS \| Dell 2240L
Case	Ant Esports Tempered case \| Thinkpad \| Antec
Audio Device(s)	Logitech Z333 \| Jabra corpo stuff
Power Supply	Corsair RM750e \| not needed \| Corsair GS 600
Mouse	Logitech G400 \| nipple
Keyboard	Logitech G213 \| stock kb is awesome \| Logitech K230
VR HMD	;_;
Software	Windows 10 Professional x3
Benchmark Scores	There are no marks on my bench

Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5700X, AMD Wraith Prism.
Motherboard	ASUS TUF X570-Plus (Wi-Fi).
Cooling	Antec 120mm RGB case fans.
Memory	4x8gb, G.SKILL F4-3600C16D-16GVKC.
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Pulse RX 6700.
Storage	PNY XLR8 CS3040 2TB 4.0x4 NVMe ssd with Vantec ICEBERQ heat sink.
Display(s)	ASUS VP278QG 27", 1080p, 75hz, FreeSync.
Case	Antec GX202.
Audio Device(s)	Onboard sound, Logitech Z625 THX 2.1's, Logitech G430 headphones.
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime GX-750.
Mouse	Logitech G203 Prodigy.
Keyboard	Logitech G213.
Software	Windows 11 Pro, @ Day 1.

System Name	[Daily Driver]
Processor	[Ryzen 7 5800X3D]
Motherboard	[Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS]
Cooling	[be quiet! Dark Rock Slim]
Memory	[64GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 3600MHz (16GBx4)]
Video Card(s)	[PNY RTX 3070Ti XLR8]
Storage	[1TB SN850 NVMe, 4TB 990 Pro NVMe, 2TB 870 EVO SSD, 2TB SA510 SSD]
Display(s)	[2x 27" HP X27q at 1440p]
Case	[Fractal Meshify-C]
Audio Device(s)	[Steelseries Arctis Pro]
Power Supply	[CORSAIR RMx 1000]
Mouse	[Logitech G Pro Wireless]
Keyboard	[Logitech G512 Carbon (GX-Brown)]
Software	[Windows 11 64-Bit]

System Name	Vintage
Processor	i7 - 3770K @ Stock
Cooling	Scythe Zipang II
Memory	2x4GB Crucial DDR3
Video Card(s)	MSI GTX970
Storage	M4 124GB SSD// WD Black 640GB// WD Black 1TB//Samsung F3 1.5TB
Display(s)	Samsung SM223BW 21.6"
Case	Generic
Power Supply	Corsair HX 520W
Software	Windows 7