NICER's Thermal Shields To See Replacement Parts, Soon -- In A "Janitor's Work-Order" Mission -- With Northrop-Grumman's 21st...

Yes -- I am (partially) poking fun, at how "routine" orbiting / space repairs are becoming.

It is almost like calling the Super-, to have a busted heater valve replaced -- on a work order, in a Manhattan tenement.

Well. . . almost. But not really. This is a cool fix though for a space 'scope damaged in May 2023 by micro-meteorites -- and a panel that was not designed with ease of repair in mind. These thermal sinks will be swapped out some time this Fall. Here's the story in full -- and a bit, from NASA | Goddard:

. . .NASA will deliver a patch kit for NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer), an X-ray telescope on the International Space Station, on the agency’s Northrop Grumman 21st commercial resupply mission. Astronauts will conduct a spacewalk to complete the repair.

Located near the space station’s starboard solar array, NICER was damaged in May 2023. The mission team delivered the patch kit to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in May 2024 so it could be prepped and packed for the upcoming resupply mission.

“It’s incredible that in just one year, we were able to diagnose the problem and then design, build, test, and deliver a solution,” said Steve Kenyon, NICER’s mechanical lead at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “We’re so excited to see the patches installed during a future spacewalk, return to a more regular operating schedule, and keep doing groundbreaking science. . . .”

Astronauts will install five patches during the spacewalk. They’ll cover the most significant areas of damage and block the sunlight affecting NICER’s X-ray measurements. [See one of the five such kits in image at lower right.]

The repair kit contains 12 patches in total, allowing for spares if needed. Astronauts will carry the patches in a caddy, a rectangular frame containing two spare sunshades with the patches held inside.

“NICER will be the first X-ray telescope in orbit to be serviced by astronauts and only the fourth science observatory to be repaired overall — joining the ranks of missions like NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope,” said Charles Baker, the NICER project systems engineer at Goddard. “It’s been amazing to watch the patch kit come together over the last year. NICER has taught us so many wonderful things about the cosmos, and we’re really looking forward to this next step of its journey. . . .”

Now you know. What a time to be. . . alive, and watching marvels. . . unfold. Smile.

नमस्ते