Mars mission vs. spare parts

Someone mentioned to me the problem of spare parts on an
extended space mission, such as a manned Mars trip. You can't
just go to the store if something fails, and duct tape goes only
so far.

He also mentioned the problems of fabrication on a generation
ship; it's easy enough to make pants and shirts, but what about a
well-fitting, airtight space suit?

He then asked what SF stories have explored this theme. I
figured there should be a bunch, but I can't think of any.

There are plenty dealing with running out of fuel. The part
in 2001 was not actually faulty. "The Trouble with Telstar"
wasn't about a manned mission. Apollo 13 wasn't fiction.

Can anyone help me with some titles? If there aren't any,
this would be a good time for people to write some. It's always
better to explore problems in writing than in life.

--
Arthur T. - ar23hur "at" intergate "dot" com
Looking for a z/OS (IBM mainframe) systems programmer position
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Mars mission vs. spare parts
    ... extended space mission, such as a manned Mars trip. ... technological society in the long term without a planetary civilization to ...
    (rec.arts.sf.science)
  • Re: Mars mission vs. spare parts
    ... extended space mission, such as a manned Mars trip. ... rather than have to pull into port and raid a hardware store. ... for a generation ship. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.science)