Problem-solving strategies from an Astronaut
Garrett Reisman is a mechanical engineer and former NASA astronaut. Reisman has the reputation of clocking 3 EVAs (Extra Vehicular Activities) or colloquially known as spacewalks.
One of the procedures he carried out during his 2nd EVA on the International Space Station (ISS)is the principal theme of this article.
He was tasked with the responsibility of fixing an antenna by mounting it on a pedestal outside the ISS. This might sound simple, but even rotating a screwdriver in space wearing a spacesuit is an arduous task. The procedure had to be completed quickly as the antenna had to be warmed, and it could be achieved only by connecting to the power supply.
The mounting went per plan, but the power cords just wouldn’t mate. Imagine being in space and the success of a maintenance activity boiling down to successfully connecting two cords. Garett kept persisting to such an extent, his crew members inside the ISS felt the whole station moving. He decided to give it a break when metal shavings were beginning to chip away from the cord. It was one thing for the cords to not mate; it would be a whole different problem if the material crumbled.
He had to make a quick decision and what he did to solve the problem was something Garett calls his ‘hero moment’. He realized the sun was going to rise in 10 minutes and he came up with a plan based on the simple concept of thermal expansion (materials expanding when heated).
He covered the male portion of the cord with his insulated gloves and exposed the female part to the sun. After some time, the female part heated up, and he just slid the male part into it.
Problem solved.
As I was listening to him narrate the whole story on the Joe Rogan podcast, I couldn’t believe how easily he found a solution. I replayed a couple of times as I was awed by the problem-solving ability of this man. Later on, when I was pondering over this incident, I asked myself ‘why I was in awe?’. I was hoping for him to come up with a complicated procedure but he relied on the basics to figure out the solution.
It had a lasting impression and it definitely caused a shift in my thinking: it is good to be different and innovative with problem-solving, but sometimes the solutions are extremely simple in nature and more importantly, right in front of us.
As Garett was concluding the narration of this story, he drew a comparison between humans and robots. According to him, if a robot was tasked with this procedure, it would have just kept shoving to mate the cords. Even with an advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) system in place, it might not necessarily have the capacity to think the way Garett did.
This was the highlight: it would be extremely difficult for an AI system to completely replicate the creative faculties of the human brain. Even if such a system was in place, it would need an initial input to learn the problem and come up with a solution. Garett was probably the first person to face this issue in space!
Garrett Reisman retired from NASA in 2011 and decided to work with Elon Musk at SpaceX in the mission control and astronaut safety team as a Senior Engineer. In 2018, he left SpaceX as a full-time employee (still continuing as a consultant) to teach human spaceflight at the University of Southern California. His story is pretty impressive and there is so much that can be learned from his experiences and life in general.
The Joe Rogan podcast is a good start if interested.
