Japanese ISS module may be to dark to use.

Here's a science fiction image for ya. A dark, apparently lifeless space station floats above a planets surface. Just the image alone generates the feeling of ancient devices, Long unused. One would not expect this hulk to be something that for all intents still has the new car smell about it. But that is exactly what is happening above our heads right this minute. Wired science is reporting that the spankin new Japanese Space Lab attached to the International Space Station is in danger of being completely unusable. Why? Well of the 21 fluorescent bulbs used in the Japanese modules, almost half have already burned out. That's bad enough right? Worse yet, there are no more spare bulbs and none will be until the next resupply mission in November. JAXA says that if more than half of the bulbs are affected it will be too dark in the module to work.

The one really odd line in this story that struck me was this: The bulbs were produced by a U.S. company in 1997. That and the fact that they don't see LED lighting in place before 2010.....

Plus I really have to ask whats up with less than a year on a bulb that should last at least 5. What am I missing here?

<- Wired via Gizmodo -> <- Mainichi daily news ->