[Mike Billings]

My day job is investigating component-level electronic failures on the Space Station main computers so they can be repaired. Also doing similar work for copies of the equipment used on the ground. There's just a handful of us working this including managers because the failures are so rare. Remember the Maytag repairman?

Right now, failed computer cards come down in Soyuz or the Dragon, depending on priority. The 40 or so racks of computers that are flying right now were all originally designed and built here in Glendale Arizona. Funny the top-tier computers just finished upgrading to Pentium 2 or 3 years ago.

It's rewarding because we spend months or years to fully understand any failure before the item can fly again. I'll often design a test rig or write software (LabView) so we can exercise the equipment.

Every couple of months, I'm lucky to work a side project. I've done design and analysis work for Orion CEV a few times. Sometimes the work is for a missile or helicopter.

All I can say about the drilled hole in the wall is NASA will be sure to get more data about the problem than what is likely necessary. Even if it's someone else's issue (Russians). They want to be sure when it comes to safety.