Is it Possible to Rescue a Stranded Crew Member on a Spinning Space Station?

[zankaon]

If a crew member were stranded on space station, due to spin, would he be rescuable? For example if an extended part bent or broke, putting the ship into a spin or tumble. If it were a one axis spin, perhaps a large mass, attached at a distance would change moment of inertia sufficient to reduce the angular velocity, so that gyroscopes could recover. Thus if the rescue shuttle had a very long arm or portable attachment, it could rotate with space station transiently at a distance, until stability allows for automatic Russian or American docking. For a tumble, such procedure would seem repeatable for all 3 axes.

 

[DanP]

If a crew member were stranded on space station, due to spin, would he be rescuable? For example if an extended part bent or broke, putting the ship into a spin or tumble. If it were a one axis spin, perhaps a large mass, attached at a distance would change moment of inertia sufficient to reduce the angular velocity, so that gyroscopes could recover. Thus if the rescue shuttle had a very long arm or portable attachment, it could rotate with space station transiently at a distance, until stability allows for automatic Russian or American docking. For a tumble, such procedure would seem repeatable for all 3 axes.

Beam him up, Scotty.

 

[russ_watters]

It of course depends on the severity of the spin, but the Space Shuttle did once capture a satellite spinning at 0.5 degrees per second:

FF to 10:15