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Jul 5 at 5:33 comment added demented hedgehog Yep. Apparently the Space Shuttle air lock vented gas (I hear)? The Space Station air lock does not. What the Shuttle did is kind of irrelevant in this case however.
Jul 4 at 13:45 comment added Steve Pemberton Airlocks don't vent all of their atmosphere, they typically depressurize to a few psi by pumping air back into the station, then vent the rest, but that's mainly to reduce the time that astronauts have to spend in the airlock. So yes there is some air loss each time they use the airlock which adds up over time, but that is with current airlocks. Presumably future airlocks will be able to minimize the loss. Especially if it's just a satellite in there when they can take their time and pump out most of the air.
Jul 4 at 12:10 answer added user53400 timeline score: 3
Jul 4 at 4:29 answer added Woody timeline score: 1
Jul 4 at 1:27 history edited Organic Marble
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Jul 4 at 0:04 vote accept demented hedgehog
Jul 4 at 0:02 answer added John Doty timeline score: 7
Jul 4 at 0:00 comment added demented hedgehog As far as depth goes there's a number of proposals for different size stations ... O'Neill cylinder has a radius of 4km. Min radius is apparently 220m ?? quora.com/…
Jul 3 at 23:49 history edited demented hedgehog CC BY-SA 4.0
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Jul 3 at 23:47 comment added demented hedgehog Gravity approx equiv to earth. Working in suits is a terrible pain in the backside in practice.. very slow and unwieldy. It's also likely to be safer? Apparently airlocks just vent the air so they lose air overtime. So it might save air?
Jul 3 at 23:42 history edited demented hedgehog CC BY-SA 4.0
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Jul 3 at 23:10 comment added Erin Anne this question is underdefined; a station spinning sufficiently quickly could keep air in an open "pool" of some depth. I think the relevant parameters are depth, temperature, acceleration, and composition. I can't think offhand or any combination of parameters that would make this scheme more sensible for satellite repair than putting the technician in a spacesuit, though.
S Jul 3 at 22:54 review First questions
Jul 4 at 0:09
S Jul 3 at 22:54 history asked demented hedgehog CC BY-SA 4.0