Vika oxygen generator: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 05:01, 5 February 2014

Revision as of 17:34, 20 October 2014

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Vika was used on Mir when more than three people were on board.<ref name=david>[http://books.google.com/books?id=FUtZwjleT3kC&pg=PA270&lpg=PA270&dq=Vika+oxygen&source=bl&ots=c1ojtq99y3&sig=hduoB3ZcMFuPLPh4EWPy1hiWq-0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=xATsTpL5K4Xhtgfi0IimCg&ved=0CFkQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=Vika%20oxygen&f=false David Michael Harland - '''The story of the space shuttle''' (2004) - Page 270] (Google Books link)</ref> Vika needs a supply of canisters to work, which must be flown into space.<ref name=david/> An example of this is [[Progress M-34]], which carried 60 canisters to Mir in 1997 along with other cargo.<ref name=david/> If ''Vika'' and ''Elektron'' stopped working, the station would have to rely on a limited supply of bottled oxygen.<ref name=david/>

{{pquotequote box|width=22em|The fire was a “raging blowtorch" .. |Mir—Mir crewmember onboard during the fire|<ref name=ellis/>}}

In February 1997 a Vika chemical oxygen generator failed on Mir. It caught fire and spewed a torch-like jet of a molten metal and sparks across one of the [[Mir]] [[space station]] modules, burning for around 14 minutes and blocking the escape route to the docked [[Soyuz spacecraft]].<ref name=ellis/> The fire was eventually put out, and the crew was not harmed.<ref name=ellis/> A definitive cause to the accident was not determined because the fire destroyed the device.<ref name=ellis/> Despite this incident, NASA decided it was still the best supplemental oxygen system available and supported its use on the then upcoming ISS.<ref name=ellis/> However the U.S. and Russia worked together to improve the safety of the system before using it on the new space station.<ref name=ellis/>