Mark Shuttleworth: Today was pretty straightforward... I was scheduled to have four hours of FGB (Functional Cargo Block... I know that doesn't add up but it's in Russian and I don't have the keyboard to do it properly) COTR (temperature regulation systems... that REALLY doesn't add up but it's also in Russian). The FGB is basically a large cargo hold that also has systems for power generation. It's the utility and warehouse of the ISS. Of course, it has basic systems for lighting, temperature control, and even guidance and navigation because it had to fly unmanned up to the ISS and dock to the Russian Service Module. Now, the guidance and control systems are dormant, but the temperature regulation system is still alive.
We started working through the detailed heat transfer loops that are used to move heat from inside the FGB to the radiators on the outside. After an hour, when the instructor was showing me how to remove and replace the pumps that move the cooling fluids around inside those loops, it struck me that there is no way in hell that the station crew would let me replace those pumps. That would be the coolest job, and those guys know every single nut, bolt and pipeline anyhow. So the instructor was very relieved to suggest that we simply focus on the elements of the system that I'm likely to use while up there, which is the air ducting and ventilation systems.
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