What kind tools do astronauts use?

[Tooljerk]

NASA said one astronaut lost his tool bag in space yesterday.

I wonder what brand of tools are in that tool bag? Snap on?

 

[Diesel-Mech]

I seem to recall Snap-on bragging about being the tool supplier for NASA.

 

[krusty the clown]

nasa tools tools of course!

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16320&highlight=nasa+tools

 

[Tooljerk]

I wish I can wrench in space. It must be fun. Last time, CNN said that NASA pays each astronaut $5 million per day when they are in space. Imagine how many snap on ratchets you can buy by working there for just one day.

 

[speed bump]

I wish I can wrench in space. It must be fun. Last time, CNN said that NASA pays each astronaut $5 million per day when they are in space. Imagine how many snap on ratchets you can buy by working there for just one day.

They may pay $5million per day they are in space but they don't pay each astronuat $5million a day in wages. Think about it I don't see any Nasa guys coming back from the international space station as billioneres.

 

[Stuey]

At least they had duplicate hardware elsewhere.

 

[goodfellow]

I wish I can wrench in space. It must be fun. Last time, CNN said that NASA pays each astronaut $5 million per day when they are in space. Imagine how many snap on ratchets you can buy by working there for just one day.

I think that's what it costs NASA to keep each of those guys/gals in space for one day. Still it's a pretty staggering sum.

Wouldn't be hilarious if that bag was full of HF Chinese made stuff. It would be the first Chinese satellite launched from the international space station.

 

[Frank Elson]

I doubt NASA pay a dime for tools. Only, perhaps specialist stuff they have to have made.
Every tool manufacturer in the country will be lining up to offer their tools for free.

 

[speed bump]

I doubt NASA pay a dime for tools. Only, perhaps specialist stuff they have to have made.
Every tool manufacturer in the country will be lining up to offer their tools for free.

Thats not so much the case. Most of the Nasa tools are either very limited production tools that are expensive to make or tools that are made in house becuase no one makes these tools.

 

[krusty the clown]

i would think that thier tools are contracted out to thier specs for a VERY high price.

 

[justinmc]

I bet there are alot of custom tools used by them.. doubtful if its anything much "off the truck". Also material selection, etc might play a crucial role considering the delicacy and materials used for certain space apparatus.

 

[Northstar9126]

i would think that thier tools are contracted out to thier specs for a VERY high price.

Makes me think of those stories about the Army paying $500 or some such goofy amount for a hammer.

 

[Roy 04 GTO]

Picture 12 in the link below has a good picture of the "Mini Power Tool" used by NASA:

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/preparing_to_rescue_hubble.html

 

[krusty the clown]

Makes me think of those stories about the Army paying $500 or some such goofy amount for a hammer.

yes and for a good reason. they didn't buy hammers off the shelf. they contracted to have a small run of hammers built to thier specs........the cost of retooling, different materials, and product testing was the reason. the cost was passed on to the consumer (the us government). if it wasn't for some government employed engineer they could have bought 100 hammers for what one cost them!

 

[dirty old man]

I do believe that was a female astronaut that lost her tool bag in space.

 

[mooman]

Speaking from experiance, Makita designed & built some of the first cordless tools for NASA's space shuttle's program.
It was of course very specialized, brushless operation, not plastic blah, blah, blah. Makita was very proud of that.

 

[Frank Elson]

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25325

 

[Merkava_4]

NASA said one astronaut lost his tool bag in space yesterday.

That means some alien is gonna get the "YOU ****" award for finding a free bag of tools.

 

[John Timmins]

Like everything else, the first consideration of anything launched in space is the weight of the item. Each pound of weight saved in tools is going to be made up in additional water, fuel, or consumable needed up there. I would not be surprised to learn that every tool is custom made for weight reasons. The rockets can't lift everything. If it's too heavy it's not going!

 

[joenero]

Would nasa use regular torx or torx plus fasteners on the shuttle?
Or would they just say screw it and use philips?

 

[rsanter]

there was a show that covered some of the tools that are used in space.
some are basic off the shelf items that have slight modifications and some are custom built power tools

the hand tools were your basic high end tools that had a larger grip made for them so that the astronaut can grip them with their large gloves. the modified grip looked like it was an aluminum (or titanium) grip that was made to go over the standard handle part of the tool and seemed to be held on with some screws (small bolts) to hold the works together. all of them also had a cable or strap attached to them with a clip on the end so they can hold them to their tool belts.
they had what appeared to be basic wrenches that were modified and they have the crecent wrench as the backup in all kits.

trivia
the first cordless drill made for the space program was made by black&decker for the apollo program and was used to drill into the surface of the moon for a core sample.
I belive the originally wanted to get about a 3ft sample but were unable to get more than about 2 ft as the surface was harder than expected and so the drill ran out of power before reaching the desired target.
that drill is still on the moon as no tools were brough back, only the samples.
to save weight they left behind anything that they could because that would increase the payload that could return with.
the space suits that were used on the moon returned with the astronauts because they were the same suits used for protection during re-entry, but the backpacks and the shoe weights were left in the moon lander when it was released as there was no need for those things during re-entry in the capsul

bob

 

[Bolster]

I own (and use daily) a drill/driver just like those used on the space station. Maybe you do too...!

"First Commercial Tool Used by NASA. In December 1998, the Makita 6213D Driver Drill was taken aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour for use on the international space station, making it the first commercial power tool used in outer space by NASA."

So, apparently most tools are custom made for NASA, which makes the Makita 6213 rather unusual...anybody can buy one.

 

[vssjim]

The Link Tool company had a Titainium 3/8 ratchet list in the price sheet so I asked him and he told me he made them for NASA but had sold them all.

 

[dwilliams35]

A lot of the main problem is torque: if you're in a weightless environment, you don't have any weight to put into holding down your body: turn a 1/4" nut with a ratchet, and you just spin around the nut, without it ever turning. Most of the ratchets and such that I've seen on them have an extra post on them: mates up to a hole next to the fastener, with a squeeze action or something similar on the tool: that way all you have to do to tighten up the bolt is squeeze a handle: the extra post ***** up the torque on the fastener, while the squeeze action only puts a force between your fingers, not a torque between the fastener and your body. Power tools also have that "torque post".

 

[rsanter]

I own (and use daily) a drill/driver just like those used on the space station. Maybe you do too...!

"First Commercial Tool Used by NASA. In December 1998, the Makita 6213D Driver Drill was taken aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour for use on the international space station, making it the first commercial power tool used in outer space by NASA."

So, apparently most tools are custom made for NASA, which makes the Makita 6213 rather unusual...anybody can buy one.

was that used in the space station or in space.
I can see it working standard in the space station, not sure how it would work in the extream cold of space and with those thich gloves on the space suit

bob

 

[Merkava_4]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h1W8dcUP9H70AmlSfDSenPteDT9gD94II4700

Apparently the tool bag contained two grease guns valued at $100,000 for the pair.

 

[eschoendorff]

I seem to recall Snap-on bragging about being the tool supplier for NASA.

I thought Proto was....

 

[eschoendorff]

Picture 12 in the link below has a good picture of the "Mini Power Tool" used by NASA:

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/preparing_to_rescue_hubble.html

Awesome link! Thanks!!!!!

 

[Tooljerk]

I was watching news this morning. The tools in the tool bag that had been lost worth $100,000.

 

[Diesel-Mech]

I thought Proto was....

I'm pretty sure that I have seen something from Snap-on where they were talking about it.

A Google search turned up this and a few articles like it.

During the 1980s, Snap-On became the sole supplier of tools to NASA for the space shuttles.

From. http://www.answers.com/topic/snap-on-incorporated


This is a little older but I found it interesting.
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/qna/questions/Tools_Used_in_Space.htm

 

[Bolster]

Here's a photo of astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper who lost her tools in space:

"Dang it, I can't believe I screwed up the mission by losing BOTH my doohickies with the thingamajigs that shoot the greasy stuff."

"It's all right, honey, they were only worth $100,000. We'll just get some more. There's an endless supply of tax money out there."

Hey, maybe you can come up with a better caption for this photo?

 

[Frank Elson]

"Well, I could hang on to my handbag (purse US?) or toolbag so I made the obvious choice."

 

[Bolster]

LOL, Frank!!

 

[HarveyM]

Here's the skylab (1973) kit


http://www.nasm.si.edu/events/spaceage/toolkit.htm
http://collections.nasm.si.edu/media/full/A19761760148d.JPG
http://collections.nasm.si.edu/media/full/A19761760149d.JPG

 

[s_ontario]

I remember when I was younger and much less tolerance of pain sending a Knuckle buster wrench into space

I should go look for it might be one of them $100000.oo wrenches

Come to think of it I sent a 2pound mini sledge into space once also


One good thing about getting older your just too lazy to go looking for missplaced tools so why bother blowing a gasket throwing them into space

 

[Tooljerk]

"Honey, I just asked NASA to Fedex another tool bag to the station. Relax, it's Fedex"

Here's a photo of astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper who lost her tools in space:

"Dang it, I can't believe I screwed up the mission by losing BOTH my doohickies with the thingamajigs that shoot the greasy stuff."

"It's all right, honey, they were only worth $100,000. We'll just get some more. There's an endless supply of tax money out there."

Hey, maybe you can come up with a better caption for this photo?

 

[Frank Elson]

I don't know why you're all so bothered. It was only a bagful of wrenches and boring stuff like that."

 

[Junkman]

Sam the rhesus monkey flew to an apogee of 88 km in 1959. (NASA)

Rumor has it that NASA included a monkey wrench also, but others claim that it was a monkey wench...

 

[speed bump]

I don't know why you're all so bothered. It was only a bagful of wrenches and boring stuff like that."

If I remember correctly it was a grease gun, a scraper and some wool mitts for cleaning.

 

[mkdive]

i would think that thier tools are contracted out to thier specs for a VERY high price.