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Space Station Slowly Falling Apart?

Yoda2 writes "MSNBC discusses debris apparently seen by the crew floating away from the International Space Station. From the article, 'Such debris may include fragments of insulation, labels and possibly important components.' Yikes! Many of these quotes seem appropriate."

341 comments

  1. Scotty quotes? by American+AC+in+Paris · · Score: 5, Informative
    For the life of me, I can't comprehend why the editors front-paged a Geocities link. Special treat to subscribers, perhaps?

    For those of you who can't get to it, don't worry--you didn't miss much. It's just a compilation of Scotty quotes, and contrary to the submitter's assertion, hardly any of them apply to the current situation.

    Unless, of course, the ISS has warp drives.

    Or is in the midst of battle with Klingons.

    --

    Obliteracy: Words with explosions

    1. Re:Scotty quotes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
      Here's the geocities list before it exceeds its bandwidth:

      "It fits like a glove, Captain." -- Scotty, Where No Man Has Gone Before, stardate 1312.4, Episode 2
      "Even if we were under full scale attack I couldn't move any faster, not and maintain a safety factor." -- Scotty, The Naked Time, stardate 1704.2, Episode 7
      "That was a pretty good gamble." -- Scotty, The Galileo Seven, stardate 2821.5, Episode 14
      "I'd love to tear this baby apart." -- Scotty, Space Seed, stardate 3141.9, Episode 24
      "The warp drive is a hopeless pile of junk." -- Scotty, The Doomsday Machine, stardate 4202.9, Episode 35
      "The shape the thing's in it's hard to keep it from blowin'." -- Scotty, The Doomsday Machine, stardate 4202.9, Episode 35
      "Laddie...don't you think you should...rephrase that?" -- Scotty, The Trouble With Tribbles, stardate 4523.3, Episode 42
      "It's, uh, it's green!" -- Scotty, By Any Other Name, stardate 4657.5, Episode 50
      "Any man who could perform such a feat, I wo'd na dare disappoint. She'll launch on time. And she'll be ready." -- Scotty, Star Trek: The Motion Picture
      "It's borderline on the simulator, we need to do more tests." -- Scotty, Star Trek: The Motion Picture
      "Just a minute, Exec, we're picking up the pieces down here." -- Scotty, Star Trek: The Motion Picture
      "The engine imbalance is what caused the worm-hole in the first place. It'll happen again if we don't fix it." -- Scotty, Star Trek: The Motion Picture
      "We can't take another attack." -- Scotty, Star Trek: The Motion Picture
      "Just the batteries. I can give you inpulse power in a couple minutes." -- Scotty, Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan
      "Aye. And if my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a wagon." -- Scotty, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
      "A chimpazee and two trainees could run her." -- Scotty, "Thank you. I'll try not to take that personally." -- Kirk, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
      "Scotty, you're as good as your word." -- kirk, "Aye sir, the more they overtake the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain." -- Scotty, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
      "Aye. Warp drive standing by." -- Scotty, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock "I find it hard to believe I've traveled millions of miles..." -- Scotty, "...thousands..." -- McCoy, "...thousands of miles for an invited tour..." -- Scotty, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
      "A ship is a ship." -- Kirk, "Whatever you say...thy will be done." -- Scotty, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
      "I know this ship like the back of my hand (bonk)." -- Scotty, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
      "All I can say is...they don't make them like they used ta." -- Scotty, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
      "How many times da I have to tell ya...the right tool for the right job!" -- Scotty, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
      "Finding retirement a wee bit lonely, aren't we?" -- Scotty to Kirk, Star Trek VII: Generations
      "I've given her all she's got captain, and I can't give her no more." -- Scotty, (Several Times)
      "She won't take much more of this." -- Scotty, (Several Times)
      "This jurry-rigging won't last for long..." -- Scotty, (Several Times)
      "Are ya daft lad!!!" -- Scotty to Geordi LaForge, Relics
      "NCC 1701. No bloody A, B, C, or D." -- Scotty yelling at the Enterprise-D's holodeck computer, Relics
      "It's...it's... ... ...um, it's green." -- Data to Scotty, refering to an unmarked bottle of alcoholic content while with him in Ten Forward, Relics

    2. Re:Scotty quotes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Michael posted it. That ought to explain it all.

    3. Re:Scotty quotes? by kfg · · Score: 5, Funny

      . . .hardly any of them apply to the current situation.

      It's worse than that Jim, hardly any of them were any good.

      Not that it matters, it's dead Jim, dead Jim, dead Jim, dead.

      KFG

    4. Re:Scotty quotes? by Dalroth · · Score: 1

      They're pretty bad Scotty quotes as well. Scotty's made a lot of great quotes during his run as Enterprise engineer, but this is NOT a good collection of them.

    5. Re:Scotty quotes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Especially since this isn't really news. The space station has been falling apart for years, and we need a geoshitty's page to tell us this? The criticism of Michael really is valid, its not just for trolls anymore.

    6. Re:Scotty quotes? by RealityMogul · · Score: 1

      I can't believe they didn't have "a keyboard... how quaint."

    7. Re:Scotty quotes? by Ianoo · · Score: 0, Troll

      Way to go posting the same text four times, dumbass.

    8. Re:Scotty quotes? by RobertB-DC · · Score: 5, Funny

      For those of you who can't get to it, don't worry--you didn't miss much. It's just a compilation of Scotty quotes, and contrary to the submitter's assertion, hardly any of them apply to the current situation.

      Unlucky me, I fell in Geocities' good graces and was welcomed by an auto-playing sound file. I'm supposed to be in the middle of a big project, typing away furiously, and suddenly my speakers burst out with "Hello, Computer"!

      Now, people are looking around the cube wall seeing me surfing Slashdot.

      Oops, gotta go.

      --
      Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
    9. Re:Scotty quotes? by ackthpt · · Score: 1
      For the life of me, I can't comprehend why the editors front-paged a Geocities link. Special treat to subscribers, perhaps?

      Considering the submission came from Yoda2, shouldn't it be Yoda quotes?

      "When nine hundred years old you reach, look as good you will not."

      --

      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    10. Re:Scotty quotes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      they are, some of the "important components" included their supply of tiolet paper.

    11. Re:Scotty quotes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      WTH! I can still get to the page! Is this not /.?

    12. Re:Scotty quotes? by Threni · · Score: 1

      > For the life of me, I can't comprehend why the editors front-paged a Geocities
      > link. Special treat to subscribers, perhaps?

      They knew it'd be mirrored, or have it's content posted here.

    13. Re:Scotty quotes? by WasterDave · · Score: 1

      Likewise. Can we please have "NSFW" designations - or "Makes stupid noise"?

      Dave

      --
      I write a blog now, you should be afraid.
    14. Re:Scotty quotes? by Cpt_Kirks · · Score: 1, Funny

      Yes, I have heard better...

      Like the time on Rigel 7 when Scotty had be hitting the Uridian Brandy. I laughed so hard my rug slipped off!

    15. Re:Scotty quotes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's Klingons on the starboard bow, starboard bow, starboard bow, there's klingons on the starboard bow . . .

    16. Re:Scotty quotes? by Jim+Starx · · Score: 2, Insightful

      and you found time to post.....??

      --
      The darkness... controls the music. The music... controls the soul.
    17. Re:Scotty quotes? by Molina+the+Bofh · · Score: 1

      It's illogical, captain. They wouldn't publish boring or duped stuff on Slashdot, as it's a paid service. It'd be highly illogical.

      --

      -
      Roses are #FF0000, Violets are #0000FF, find / -name '*base*' |xargs chown -R us && mv zig greatjustice
    18. Re:Scotty quotes? by secolactico · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I'm supposed to be in the middle of a big project, typing away furiously, and suddenly my speakers burst out with "Hello, Computer"!

      Which is why I always keep my sound card in "mute" while at work, unless I need to use it for something specific.

      --
      No sig
    19. Re:Scotty quotes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Quote #8.. did Scotty say that or did Data say that, about the green drink?

    20. Re:Scotty quotes? by CowboyNick · · Score: 1

      Or just disable autoplay for embedded sounds and movies like the rest of us in the cube farm...

      --
      -CowboyNick
    21. Re:Scotty quotes? by RobertB-DC · · Score: 1

      Or just disable autoplay for embedded sounds and movies like the rest of us in the cube farm...

      Actually, I thought I'd done this. I run Opera, and F12 brings up a menu where one of the options is "Activate sounds in web pages" (or something like that -- I'm running the French version, just for kicks). It's unchecked, but I still run into the occasional annoyance.

      Still, it's not as bad as my fellow cubesters' annoying polyphonic ringtones, so I guess I'm safe for the moment.

      --
      Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
    22. Re:Scotty quotes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "It fits like a glove, Captain." -- Scotty, Where No Man Has Gone Before, stardate 1312.4, Episode 2
      Scotty should leave those green women alone...

      "Even if we were under full scale attack I couldn't move any faster, not and maintain a safety factor." -- Scotty, The Naked Time, stardate 1704.2, Episode 7
      Scotty Brand Condoms Slogan

      "That was a pretty good gamble." -- Scotty, The Galileo Seven, stardate 2821.5, Episode 14
      Scotty playing Russian roulette with a phaser... and the other guy goes first.

      "I'd love to tear this baby apart." -- Scotty, Space Seed, stardate 3141.9, Episode 24
      I always suspected Scotty was a bit of a baby killer...

      "The shape the thing's in it's hard to keep it from blowin'." -- Scotty, The Doomsday Machine, stardate 4202.9, Episode 35
      Scotty and the mesomorph in bed...

      "Laddie...don't you think you should...rephrase that?" -- Scotty, The Trouble With Tribbles, stardate 4523.3, Episode 42
      Scotty doing a very Scottish thing...

      "It's, uh, it's green!" -- Scotty, By Any Other Name, stardate 4657.5, Episode 50
      Scotty notices something about those green women...

      "Any man who could perform such a feat, I wo'd na dare disappoint. She'll launch on time. And she'll be ready." -- Scotty, Star Trek: The Motion Picture
      Scotty and more green women...?

      "Just the batteries. I can give you inpulse power in a couple minutes." -- Scotty, Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan
      Scotty Brand Vibrator Slogan

      "I know this ship like the back of my hand (bonk)." -- Scotty, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
      Scotty suddenly remembers that he knows his palm much, much better.

      "All I can say is...they don't make them like they used ta." -- Scotty, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
      Scotty lamenting the lack of green women in the movies.

      "How many times da I have to tell ya...the right tool for the right job!" -- Scotty, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
      Scotty's short career as a porn star.

      "Finding retirement a wee bit lonely, aren't we?" -- Scotty to Kirk, Star Trek VII: Generations
      Scotty, looking to score.

      "I've given her all she's got captain, and I can't give her no more." -- Scotty, (Several Times)
      Scotty's second attempt at porn...

      "She won't take much more of this." -- Scotty, (Several Times)
      See above

    23. Re:Scotty quotes? by Idarubicin · · Score: 1
      Unlucky me, I fell in Geocities' good graces and was welcomed by an auto-playing sound file.

      Yet another reason I browse with Opera: hit F12 and uncheck "Enable embedded audio". Uncheck "Enable GIF animation", "Enable Java", and "Enable plugins", while you're at it.

      Cheers!

      --
      ~Idarubicin
    24. Re:Scotty quotes? by nucal · · Score: 1
      I'm supposed to be in the middle of a big project, typing away furiously ...

      Clearly, you did not tell them how long it would really take. And if it wasn't for the audio, they'd have thought that you were a miracle worker ...

    25. Re:Scotty quotes? by pjt33 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Plug in some headphones, or isn't that allowed?

    26. Re:Scotty quotes? by 0xfc · · Score: 1

      i used freebsd 4.9, windowmaker, and opera. when i type f12 it brings up the windowmaker menu.

      the windowmaker menu normally comes up when i right click on the desktop.

      unsure why it did not work for me in opera as a normal shortcut. oh well.

    27. Re:Scotty quotes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's quotes jim but now as we know it..

    28. Re:Scotty quotes? by Cally · · Score: 1

      y'all have sound on work computers? How come? Perhaps it's a US vs UK thing. I don't remember the last time I had a PC with speakers. I've been using headphones plugged into the headphone ckjack on teh front of the CD drive for music for as long as PCs have had CDs.

      --
      "None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." -- Goethe
    29. Re:Scotty quotes? by zero_offset · · Score: 2, Funny
      Scotty, The Naked Time

      Two words that should NEVER be placed in close proximity.

      --

      Slashdot quality declines as the number of hot grits posts decreases. - Provolt's Law, Apr-09-2005

    30. Re:Scotty quotes? by naarok · · Score: 2, Informative

      Scotty said it first as attributed. Data also said it in TNG (as a nod to the original I'd guess).

  2. So... by ackthpt · · Score: 4, Funny

    So what we're saying is, Mir was actually pretty damn good.

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    1. Re:So... by foistboinder · · Score: 5, Insightful
      So what we're saying is, Mir was actually pretty damn good.

      No kidding. You could crash things into it and set it on fire and it was still usable!

    2. Re:So... by M1FCJ · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Interesting note, current ISS commander Michael Foayle was onboard Mir when they had the accident with the Progress vehicle. This guy seems to be really unlucky. It was Mir that was falling apart around him, this time it is ISS.

    3. Re:So... by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Funny
      No kidding. You could crash things into it and set it on fire and it was still usable!

      Yeah, Mir==Peace, apparently ISS==Piece(s)

      --

      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    4. Re:So... by bettiwettiwoo · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well, as the Russian guy says in Armageddon while wildly hitting the panel to make the spacecraft start (possibly not an exact quote): 'Russian equipment; American equipment: all made in Taiwan!'

      --
      The liver is evil and must be punished.
    5. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny
      Come on, use common sense. unlucky? That's sabotage!

      +1 Funny or -1 Flamebait, that's the question...

    6. Re:So... by M1FCJ · · Score: 1

      He is British... He became an american to become an astronaut.. Are you implying something?

    7. Re:So... by C10H14N2 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Mir also means "world" as in "burning up as it careens into the." ISS is just going about it at a more American-style mosey...

    8. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      I maintain IIS too and it is always crashing and falling apart.

    9. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Or you could look at it on the positive side:

      He's been in two accidents in space. And he survived.

      I'd say he's pretty lucky!

    10. Re:So... by PPGMD · · Score: 1
      He said that while they were on that comet rover/drilling rig thingy.

      When he was hitting a wrench on a Space Shuttle panel to get it to start he said:"This is how we fix things on Russian Space Station!"

    11. Re:So... by ackthpt · · Score: 3, Funny
      I maintain IIS too and it is always crashing and falling apart.

      That depends upon what your definition of ISS IIS.

      --

      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    12. Re:So... by Geldon · · Score: 2, Funny

      "Yesterday, the crew observed another small piece of debris floating away from the ISS, apparently of Russian origin."

      NOORAD: We have incomming, it appears to be of Russian orgin.
      Bush: We were at war with the Russians before, right?
      NOORAD: Yes, sir.
      Bush: What are we waiting for! Lets get that Stalin guy before he gets us!

    13. Re:So... by Penguinshit · · Score: 4, Funny


      I thought "Mir" == "duct tape"...

    14. Re:So... by freeze128 · · Score: 2, Funny

      "Watch this dial. 150 - OK. 160 - ohhkayy. 200 - very bad for space station."

    15. Re:So... by PacoTaco · · Score: 2, Interesting

      And fungus.

    16. Re:So... by Dark+Lord+Seth · · Score: 2, Funny
      American-style mosey

      So it will spend the rest of it's days looking at reruns of Oprah and trying to get involved in everything that is not it's concern?

    17. Re:So... by shfted! · · Score: 4, Funny

      Dude! That's an ingenious marketing idea... Mir brand duct tape!

      --
      He who laughs last is stuck in a time dilation bubble.
    18. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That a labotomy is mandatory for American citizenship?

    19. Re:So... by tonyr60 · · Score: 1

      Maybe there is nothing wrong with the build quality or design of British motor vehicles. Perhaps the problem is the drivers.....

    20. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For crying out loud, it's "its." On both counts.

    21. Re:So... by M1FCJ · · Score: 1

      I don't know. I live in England but I never drove a British car. I drove a Renault (french), a Fiat (italian), a Mazda (japanese), a Nissan (japanese) and now I'm driving a Volvo (Swedish). None leaked oil. In 12 years I never got a single point on my license.

    22. Re:So... by Dark+Lord+Seth · · Score: 1

      Welcome to the city of people who care. Population: YOU.

    23. Re:So... by RobertB-DC · · Score: 4, Funny

      Interesting note, current ISS commander Michael Foale was onboard Mir when they had the accident with the Progress vehicle. This guy seems to be really unlucky.

      Or perhaps it's a case of once-bitten twice-shy. Foale was busy conducting experiments in Spektr when the Progress bounced off it on its little detour past the docking port.

      Underneath that cool test-pilot exterior (and a pair of Ray-Bans) is a guy whose eyes are always moving, always watching... ready for that *thump* *crunch* *hissssss* that means IT'S ALL HAPPENING AGAIN!!! OH MY GOD!!! EVAC PROCEDURES, SOYUZ SEPARATION SEQUENCE STA... oh, never mind, just a piece of insulation, sorry.

      --
      Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
    24. Re:So... by monkeydo · · Score: 1

      Except that the parts in question appparantly came off a Russian Progress spacecraft which is docked with the ISS.

      --
      Si vis pacem, para bellum
      The only thing more annoying than a Libertarian is an (un|mis)informed Libertarian
    25. Re:So... by IsItWashable · · Score: 1

      I worry about it falling on my head, like SkyLab...I am old though...

    26. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You cared enough for a retort. Welcome to the city of...bah, you see where I'm going with this.

    27. Re:So... by sadomikeyism · · Score: 1

      This American style is to shuck off old clothes in time for next years fashions. Problem is, the fashion train ain't pullin into that station any time soon...

      --
      "Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves
    28. Re:So... by C10H14N2 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      If fascists are objectively pacifist, then I suppose Mussolini was just bringing peace to Ethiopia. 'All I want is a little peace. A little piece of Poland, a little piece of France...' - Mel Brooks, as Adolf Hitler

    29. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Interesting note, current ISS commander Michael Foayle was onboard Mir when they had the accident with the Progress vehicle. This guy seems to be really unlucky. It was Mir that was falling apart around him, this time it is ISS.

      Michael Foayle is British. MIR, Beagle, ISS... do you see the reoccuring theme here? So when you think of Britain think Bad luck Britain!!!

    30. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Quoting Michael Foayle from the BBC article:

      He told British newspaper, The Sunday Times: "I am an addict for space flight. I have seen so many things and I want to somehow touch them again."

      Maybe if Michael stopped touching stuff all the damn time they wouldn't keep breaking eh?

    31. Re:So... by ThereIsNoSporkNeo · · Score: 1

      "I worry about it falling on my head, like SkyLab...I am old though..."

      SkyLab fell on your head? And you survived?! Wow... I guess they did make them tougher in the good old days...

      --
      With my dying breath, I curse Zoidberg!
    32. Re:So... by Wilk4 · · Score: 1
      this conversation reminds me of one of my favorite old humor pieces...

      Scientists Study Effects of Mir

      enjoy

    33. Re:So... by StuckInSyrup · · Score: 1

      i heard stories about some kind of a plastic-eating and metal-corroding bacteria that lived in mirs inner insulation. ...by the way, i think, that mir is still floating somewhwre out there, the russians sold it to the illuminati.

      --
      Ni.
    34. Re:So... by jd · · Score: 1

      That's because the Volvo test-crash dummies gave them some design tips.

      --
      It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  3. Good idea by andih8u · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Link to a geocities site on /.

    That should last about 2 mins before it goes over bandwidth allowances.

    --


    slashdot, news for crazed liberal socialist zealots
    1. Re:Good idea by Golias · · Score: 5, Funny
      The headline also contains one of the more amusing examples of weak grammar I've seen on /.

      MSNBC discusses debris apparently seen by the crew floating away from the International Space Station.

      The crew saw debris as they were floating away from the ISS!? It sounds like the more alarming story is the fact that the ISS is losing crewmen! :)

      --

      Information wants to be anthropomorphized.

    2. Re:Good idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't think that is an accident. It happens all the time in news headlines because it makes you have to read the story to figure out what is going on

    3. Re:Good idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, good job!

  4. Uh, dude. by bad+enema · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's the INTERNATIONAL Space Station. So you can't go blaming the Americans even though they do contribute the bulk of the efforts towards the project.

    1. Re:Uh, dude. by acsinc · · Score: 1

      no, but we can blame the Russians.

    2. Re:Uh, dude. by Tumbleweed · · Score: 1

      Since when has that ever stopped anyone from blaming America for anything it's involved in (or _not_ been involved in)? We're the universal bad guy, no matter what we do.

      Don't worry, though, we can take it. Everyone still gets all their good movies from us. :)

    3. Re:Uh, dude. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Yes, thank God for American movies like Gigli.

    4. Re:Uh, dude. by Tumbleweed · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Indeed. Without stuff like Gigli, you wouldn't know a good movie from bad. Now you have an example. :)

      Keep in mind that as bad as Gigli was, it's still ten times better than 99% of the movies that come out of India or Iran.

    5. Re:Uh, dude. by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 1

      And the other, more prevalent game is:

      "$Topic is broken/failing/invading our rights/simply wrong. Let's blame..."
      A) America
      B) America
      C) America
      D) America
      E) Humanity in general

    6. Re:Uh, dude. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uhhh. wrong. It is only "International" in name only. The Russians supplied the actual know-how, and the working spacecraft, but they did it (and continue to do it) with a shoestring budget due to the fact that their country is nearly bankrupt, and has been fighting a defacto civil war against Checnya since day one. Us fine Americans needed their engineering expertise for long-term spaceflight, something we never mastered - for example, the Russians can perserve a water supply aboard a spacestation for far longer than Americans can.

      Long story short (too late) - look at the budgets! Clinton was a great costcutter - he pared down every department's budget to the absolute minimum, and as a result, things got a little sketchy, but the real pain in the ass is the fact that the Bush came in and just cut $100 off their budget, per year. That's the primary cause of the Columbia reentry accident, and that's probably the cause here. You can only cut costs so much. Just ask the Air Force when they used the lowest bidder to launch their 1998 spy sat. $1 Billion in payload resting on the lowest bidder's rocket.

      So here's the body count to pay for Bush's ticket to the Moon:

      1. The Shuttle Program
      2. Hubble
      3. ISS

    7. Re:Uh, dude. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Congratulations! You're the first American I've seen on slashdot who doesn't get all defensive when we poor non-Americans blow some hot air in a fit of jealousy. If there were more people like you in these discussions, the internet would be a lot friendlier place. To be fair, I suppose it's always the few hotheads who feel the need to respond... but it's the appearance that counts. Keep up the good work!

    8. Re:Uh, dude. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm not aware the US were adding in anything live critical... they knew/decided they should have that done by those that have more experience with it. Instead they decided to add/pay for and keep control only over parts that could be used for research/creating revenue at some time.

    9. Re:Uh, dude. by MullerMn · · Score: 1

      I have mod points, but I can't seem to find '-1, World's Smallest Violin'..

    10. Re:Uh, dude. by Tumbleweed · · Score: 1

      Heh, funny. If I wasn't in this conversation, I'd give you a +1 Funny. :)

    11. Re:Uh, dude. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh we don't blame Americans for this at all, just the tight ass American congress members.

  5. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Russian? thats the problem, why were they in such a hurry

  6. Fix it fast by alanoneil · · Score: 0

    I sure hope someone gets around to fixing it, we don't want any more Great Balls of Fire raining on everyone's parade (which could not only cause injury but also slow the US space program...)

    --
    --
    1. Re:Fix it fast by M1FCJ · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I think it would be a godsend to American space program. They would just cancel it and that would be it. No more budget black holes. Back to fixing Hubble and everything that really matters gets funding. It might be a conpiracy. These are not the bolts you are looking for.

    2. Re:Fix it fast by rjelks · · Score: 1

      I think if we're going to start reshuffling money, the Superconducting Supercollider project should be given another chance. The space station always did seem like a PR move anyway. Not that the PR seems to be working. :) -

    3. Re:Fix it fast by M1FCJ · · Score: 1

      Any news is good PR. NASA will make to the headlines again, it will be mentioned and probably the positive spin about Bush's Mars program and ISS' place in it will be mentioned again and again. I think they're allright, they will say it is common, the piece is unimportant etc.

    4. Re:Fix it fast by concordeonetwo · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I though the facility in Texas they built just for the SSC was pretty cool. Too bad they only half way finished the tunnel. Its now used to store styrofoam cups as I understand it.

  7. What would Scotty say... by Gil2796 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ... if the Enterprise were ever let to run down to such a state?!

    It wouldn't be pretty...

    1. Re:What would Scotty say... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's already run down, haven't you seen Enterprise yet?

  8. POSSIBLY important by Deraj+DeZine · · Score: 5, Funny
    and possibly important components

    Is this a nice way of saying that a slothful astronaut got sucked out into space?

    --
    True story.
    1. Re:POSSIBLY important by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pushed out, thanks. It's the atmosphere rushing to fill the vacuum that causes things to be ejected into space.

    2. Re:POSSIBLY important by iminplaya · · Score: 1

      possibly important components

      I hope they don't mean the soyuz capsule

      --
      What?
    3. Re:POSSIBLY important by Deraj+DeZine · · Score: 1

      I actually thought about saying that they were pushed out in parentheses, but I figured no one would call me on it.

      --
      True story.
    4. Re:POSSIBLY important by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's megamaid! She's gone from suck to blow!

  9. There are more apt quotes than those. by pheared · · Score: 5, Funny

    Race: Payload checklist. IRS surveillance satellite --
    Buzz: Check.
    Race: Ant farm --
    Buzz: Check.
    Race: Children's letters to God --
    Buzz: Check.

    --- Deep Space Homer

    1. Re:There are more apt quotes than those. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'm going to write an "appropriate Simpson's quote bot" in perl.

      $100 says it has max karma in 1 week tops.

    2. Re:There are more apt quotes than those. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're on; you don't get karma for being funny.

    3. Re:There are more apt quotes than those. by beernuts · · Score: 2, Funny

      "Things fall apart, it's scientific."

      -Talking Heads "Wild Wild Life"

    4. Re:There are more apt quotes than those. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All you've done is made it more challenging... I'm sure a Simpsons quote could earn an "Interesting" here or there.

    5. Re:There are more apt quotes than those. by dekashizl · · Score: 1
      I'm going to write an "appropriate Simpson's quote bot" in perl

      That is a very good idea. You should make it like this:
      • a web front end like: paste text into a box and click "Generate Quote".
      • backend parses text, looks for keywords, and outputs a list of possible quotes with % relevance, sorted most to least.
      Then from there, you can make it auto-post to Slashdot, but at least you will be creating something cool and useful for the rest of the world.
  10. Labels... by addie · · Score: 5, Funny

    include fragments of insulation, labels and possibly important components

    Labels? Like "Canadarm" or "U.S.A." ? Please don't tell me there's a Taco Bell billboard up there too!

    1. Re:Labels... by shotfeel · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'm picturing labels like "Don't Ever Push This Big Red Button" floating off into space.

      Or the "Pull" label next to the hatch.

      Those kinds of labels.

    2. Re:Labels... by Ooblek · · Score: 1

      I thought it was just covered with wet-n-stick decals that say "42". I mean, if you're going up there and don't know what all the crap is on the outside, what possible good is a label going to do?

    3. Re:Labels... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Please don't tell me there's a Taco Bell billboard up there too!

      Yeah but Coke and McDonalds both got theirs out before Taco ;-0

    4. Re:Labels... by Phroggy · · Score: 1
      --
      $x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
      $x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
    5. Re:Labels... by kf8vn · · Score: 1

      Don't tell me someone ignored the "Do not remove this label under penalty of law" label from the seat cushions.

  11. Remerbers.... by derphilipp · · Score: 3, Funny

    Remebers me of the "Armageddon" movie - the "russian" kind of repair-method
    *kick*slam* hey ! it works !

    The line between trolling and humor is thin.

    --
    Spelling mistakes: My is english spoken not tongue of mother.
    1. Re:Remerbers.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Percussive Maintainance.

    2. Re:Remerbers.... by airConditionedGypsy · · Score: 2, Funny
      I think that this is the "international" repair method. Or rather, universal.

      Kick the darn thing until it works or your wife makes you buy a new one.

      --
      I bootleg Fizzy Lifting Drinks.
    3. Re:Remerbers.... by trentblase · · Score: 1

      It's called the "technical tap". Also useful to quiet annoying coworkers.

    4. Re:Remerbers.... by Keith+McClary · · Score: 1

      I think that this is the "international" repair method. Or rather, universal.

      Kick the darn thing until it works or your wife makes you buy a new one.

      Actually this worked quiet well back when there were a lot of socketed chips. You just had to know where on the box to apply the healing touch. But nowadays everything is soldered in - no joy.

  12. Oh no... by Bendebecker · · Score: 5, Funny

    There goes the $10,000 wrench. There goes the $20,000 hammer...

    --
    There's a growing sense that even if The Future comes,
    most of us won't be able to afford it.
    -- Lemmy
    1. Re:Oh no... by Boglin · · Score: 3, Informative

      Except, on the space station, you might actually need a $10,000 screwdriver. After all, you don't have the ground to leverage yourself against, so it's quite possible with a simple screwdriver to rotate there in space while the damn screw doesn't move at all. I remember that NASA found a way around this and that it wasn't cheap (though I don't think it was ten grand).

    2. Re:Oh no... by Cpt_Kirks · · Score: 1

      They are called "cordless screwdrivers". I used on to fix my toilet yesterday.

      Mine also doubled as part of the arm of my borg costume halloween.

    3. Re:Oh no... by Cruciform · · Score: 1

      You gotta be joking! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to ... never mind.

    4. Re:Oh no... by Boglin · · Score: 2, Informative
      I've got one of those, too. Of course, even when I use it, I can feel the torque back on my hand. Of course, this isn't a problem as my little plam driver doesn't have nearly enough torque to lift me off the ground.

      Take away that gravitational field and that torque which I feel on my hand has nothing fighting against it and I start (very slowly) spinning around on the axis of the screwdriver. Now, if there's a simple handle to hold onto on the satellite, then this is all negated and the torque goes into the screw instead of me. So, no, using a cordless screw driver doesn't fix the problem.

      Now, if there's a cordless screwdriver that doesn't deliver torque back onto the wielder, this is the solution.

    5. Re:Oh no... by Boglin · · Score: 1

      You're probably right that I am an idiot. I tend to miss that which is right in front of me. However, I have posted a more complete explanation of my thoughts in this post responding to the idea of just using an electric screwdriver. So, if I'm still the idiot that you think I am (I'd say there's an 93% chance that I am), then I'd be much obliged if you would tell me exactly which blatantly obvious fact that I am missing.

    6. Re:Oh no... by Fred+Ferrigno · · Score: 1

      Now, if there's a cordless screwdriver that doesn't deliver torque back onto the wielder, this is the solution.

      You mean, if there's a screwdriver that defies the laws of physics? As you apply torque to the screw, it applies torque to you. There's no way around it.

    7. Re:Oh no... by alienw · · Score: 1

      Now, if there's a cordless screwdriver that doesn't deliver torque back onto the wielder, this is the solution.

      Never mind the fact that it violates Newton's third law...

    8. Re:Oh no... by John+Courtland · · Score: 1

      I would imagine if the screwdriver could also have an enlarged square/hex head around it that mates to a matching male head around the screw, that would stop the torque from twisting you around.

      --
      Slashdot is proof that Sturgeon's Law applies to mankind.
    9. Re:Oh no... by Boglin · · Score: 1

      Not necessarily. The screw driver magnetically clamped onto the the object that the screw was being added to or removed from, then there wouldn't be an issue. We don't have to stop the screwdriver from applying torque; we just have to stop it from applying it to the astronaut.

    10. Re:Oh no... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You gotta be joking! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to ... never mind.

      How many rocket scientists does it take to change a light bulb - in zero gravity? I wonder if they use screw-type light bulbs?

    11. Re:Oh no... by Fred+Ferrigno · · Score: 1

      That's actually a good idea, and it seems like it would work. OTOH, it doesn't exempt you from Newton's Third Law. A motor, driven by a rotating magnetic field, creates torque which is applied to both the stator and rotor. The rotor transfers torque to the screw; the stator transfers torque to the space station.

    12. Re:Oh no... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No it does not. If your parent had said "... a cordless screwdriver that doesn't deliver torque, this is the solution", then you'd be right. All the screwdriver has to do is deliver torque to somewhere other than the wielder (e.g., the surface into which the screw is being driven, as stated in another branch of this thread).

    13. Re:Oh no... by ColaMan · · Score: 1

      When your $10K wrench is moving at 7km/s, that's a pretty big "oh no". Remember that (alleged) paint chip that left a big impact on one of the shuttle windows? Wouldn't want to meet that spanner head on, that's for sure :-)

      Mind you, since most manned launches are to the ISS at the moment, your relative velocity to ISS debris in the same general orbit would be pretty small.

      --

      You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
      There is a lot of hype here.
    14. Re:Oh no... by bobv-pillars-net · · Score: 1
      From Independence Day:
      President Thomas Whitmore: I don't understand, where does all this come from? How do you get funding for something like this? Julius Levinson: You don't actually think they spend $20,000.00 on a hammer, $30,000.00 on a toilet seat do you?
      --
      The Web is like Usenet, but
      the elephants are untrained.
    15. Re:Oh no... by Fjord · · Score: 1

      This is actually ideal, because you want the space station to spin in the opposite direction of the screw.

      Of course, I'd think you could acheive the same result with a regular screwdriver and a handle. If there is no handle built onto the spacestation, you could make a magnetic one.

      --
      -no broken link
    16. Re:Oh no... by Cruciform · · Score: 1

      It wasn't meant as an insult :)

      When I said "it doesn't take a rocket scientist to...", it was a joke on the fact that astronauts typically are rocket scientists, or pros in other scientific fields these day.

  13. In Soviet Russia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny



    America pays all the bills!

    1. Re:In Soviet Russia by Spydr · · Score: 0, Offtopic


      Space station watches YOU float away!

  14. Here's What Scotty Has to Say! by dukeluke · · Score: 1


    "This jurry-rigging won't last for long..." -- Scotty

    Got that right Scotty! - What's the world coming to?

    "Yesterday, the crew observed another small piece of debris floating away from the ISS, apparently of Russian origin."

    Looks again like Scotty's got the answer! "She won't take much more of this." -- Scotty

    Perhaps, we should just let Scotty fix her..."The warp drive is a hopeless pile of junk." -- Scotty

    Then again, here's what NASA's thinking....
    "Just a minute, Exec, we're picking up the pieces down here."

    *Please note all quotes taken from the articles ;-) Amazing how much Scotty could tell us though isn't it?! -- dukeluke

    1. Re:Here's What Scotty Has to Say! by Cybrr · · Score: 1

      Maybe they were green pieces...

      --
      Why did GEAR crush RDP?
  15. Hey, I lost that ... by thrill12 · · Score: 5, Funny
    --
    Slashdot: stuff for news, nerds that matter, matter for news, stuff that nerd
    1. Re:Hey, I lost that ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Looks like a bottle of Bombay Sapphire to me.

  16. Geocities Mirror by The+Human+Cow · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Here is a mirror of the Geocities-hosted Scotty quotes when/if the bandwidth overflows or whatever.
    Just, uh, be gentle.

    --
    The Human Cow - bringing you scrumtrelescence since 1995
  17. Fun and Games on the station by grub · · Score: 5, Funny



    Cosmonaut : [peering out window] I spy vith my leetle eye.. something that is yellow.
    Astronaut : Hey, we have this game in the US too! Umm yellow.. a sticker?
    Cosmonaut : Be more specivic.
    Astronaut : A sticker that says "Outer Hatch"?
    Cosmonaut : Da! You wi.....
    21908uje12~~!~~~

    [END TRANSMISSION]

    --
    Trolling is a art,
  18. Just me? by CaseM · · Score: 3, Funny

    Did anyone else read that as "the crew was floating away from the space station"? I thought "Damn, things *are* getting bad..."

  19. hmm by Rotting · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I wonder if it is all coming from the space station. There must be a lot of crap up there now... unless decaying orbits take care of that sort of thing?

    Perhaps it is a sneaky astronaut out there snapping pieces off to frighten the others... All in good fun.

  20. 1st officer Spock's dirty toilet paper? by rqqrtnb · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Well, logic demands an answer!

  21. No surprise by Laconian · · Score: 1

    That's what happens when you outsource skilled labor to the Martians!

  22. It's not from the Space Station by hcg50a · · Score: 5, Informative

    The article clearly states the piece was from the Progress or Soyuz spacecraft docked to the Space Station. It is a part that locks down the solar panels on these craft.

    --
    HCG 50a = 2MASX J11170638+5455016
    11h17m06.4s +54d55m02s
    1. Re:It's not from the Space Station by Bendebecker · · Score: 3, Informative

      "The article clearly states the piece was from the Progress or Soyuz spacecraft docked to the Space Station. It is a part that locks down the solar panels on these craft."

      In other words the next part we shoudl expect to hear floating off the station is the solar panels. Uhhh, if the solar panels go, what will keep the capsule powered (I assume it has something running that the solar panels power)???

      --
      There's a growing sense that even if The Future comes,
      most of us won't be able to afford it.
      -- Lemmy
  23. Re:"These Quotes" by yomimono · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Holy ugly-block-of-text, Batman! Let's try that again, this time with line breaks.

    # "It fits like a glove, Captain." -- Scotty, Where No Man Has Gone Before, stardate 1312.4, Episode 2

    # "Even if we were under full scale attack I couldn't move any faster, not and maintain a safety factor." -- Scotty, The Naked Time, stardate 1704.2, Episode 7

    # "That was a pretty good gamble." -- Scotty, The Galileo Seven, stardate 2821.5, Episode 14

    # "I'd love to tear this baby apart." -- Scotty, Space Seed, stardate 3141.9, Episode 24

    # "The warp drive is a hopeless pile of junk." -- Scotty, The Doomsday Machine, stardate 4202.9, Episode 35

    # "The shape the thing's in it's hard to keep it from blowin'." -- Scotty, The Doomsday Machine, stardate 4202.9, Episode 35

    # "Laddie...don't you think you should...rephrase that?" -- Scotty, The Trouble With Tribbles, stardate 4523.3, Episode 42

    # "It's, uh, it's green!" -- Scotty, By Any Other Name, stardate 4657.5, Episode 50

    # "Any man who could perform such a feat, I wo'd na dare disappoint. She'll launch on time. And she'll be ready." -- Scotty, Star Trek: The Motion Picture

    # "It's borderline on the simulator, we need to do more tests." -- Scotty, Star Trek: The Motion Picture

    # "Just a minute, Exec, we're picking up the pieces down here." -- Scotty, Star Trek: The Motion Picture

    # "The engine imbalance is what caused the worm-hole in the first place. It'll happen again if we don't fix it." -- Scotty, Star Trek: The Motion Picture

    # "We can't take another attack." -- Scotty, Star Trek: The Motion Picture

    # "Just the batteries. I can give you inpulse power in a couple minutes." -- Scotty, Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan

    # "Aye. And if my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a wagon." -- Scotty, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock

    # "A chimpazee and two trainees could run her." -- Scotty, "Thank you. I'll try not to take that personally." -- Kirk, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock

    # "Scotty, you're as good as your word." -- kirk, "Aye sir, the more they overtake the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain." -- Scotty, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock

    # "Aye. Warp drive standing by." -- Scotty, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock

    # "I find it hard to believe I've traveled millions of miles..." -- Scotty, "...thousands..." -- McCoy, "...thousands of miles for an invited tour..." -- Scotty, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

    # "A ship is a ship." -- Kirk, "Whatever you say...thy will be done." -- Scotty, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

    # "I know this ship like the back of my hand (bonk)." -- Scotty, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

    # "All I can say is...they don't make them like they used ta." -- Scotty, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

    # "How many times da I have to tell ya...the right tool for the right job!" -- Scotty, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

    # "Finding retirement a wee bit lonely, aren't we?" -- Scotty to Kirk, Star Trek VII: Generations

    # "I've given her all she's got captain, and I can't give her no more." -- Scotty, (Several Times)

    # "She won't take much more of this." -- Scotty, (Several Times)

    # "This jurry-rigging won't last for long..." -- Scotty, (Several Times)

    # "Are ya daft lad!!!" -- Scotty to Geordi LaForge, Relics

    # "NCC 1701. No bloody A, B, C, or D." -- Scotty yelling at the Enterprise-D's holodeck computer, Relics

    # "It's...it's... ... ...um, it's green." -- Data to Scotty, refering to an unmarked bottle of alcoholic content while with him in Ten Forward, Relics

  24. How to win friends and influence people 101 by Space+cowboy · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    they should have just let the British build it. That way it would save everyone the embarassment by never even reaching space in the first place.


    Er, what's this in aid of ?

    Simon.
    --
    Physicists get Hadrons!
  25. Oh No, the Duct Tape is coming off by rqqrtnb · · Score: 2, Funny

    Abort the mission.

  26. Re:Well... by grub · · Score: 3, Funny


    Yeah, they should have just let the British build it.

    Nah, all that leaking oil floating around in low orbit would pose a threat to other spacecraft.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
  27. The space station is falling apart... by Bendebecker · · Score: 1

    faster than an old rusty valiant. We need to send some duct tape up there pronto!

    --
    There's a growing sense that even if The Future comes,
    most of us won't be able to afford it.
    -- Lemmy
    1. Re:The space station is falling apart... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh, yeah, sure! Like the ISS is gonna last anywhere NEAR as long as a Valiant! Get real!

      Will the ISS take a slant 6?

  28. Re:I fail it, but will post my FP haiku anyway by wibs · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    Sylable count: WRONG.


    number of Ls in syllable: WRONG.

    be nicer to the first post people (bitch).
    --
    If you get nervous, just remember that there are a few billion other people who don't really give a damn.
  29. Could be a bottle... by stuffduff · · Score: 1

    Maybe someone was smuggling a little something extra into orbit and forgot to extract it from its hiding place and bring it in before they unpacked the solar panel.

    --
    "Can there be a Klein bottle that is an efficient and effective beer pitcher?"
  30. I mean, come on! by IchBinDasWalross · · Score: 0

    NASA doesn't seem to be able to build a damn thing without parts falling off...

    --
    Mod "Overrated" instead of replying "I disagree with you," you coward.
  31. Would someone please by stratjakt · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Post a list of quotes from the black guy with the hairband on his face, from the next generation star trek?

    I'd like to know his take on the situation.

    --
    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
    1. Re:Would someone please by IchBinDasWalross · · Score: 0

      Geordi LaForge (played by Lavar Burton)? But he's not as interesting as Scotty!

      --
      Mod "Overrated" instead of replying "I disagree with you," you coward.
    2. Re:Would someone please by corky842 · · Score: 1

      Here are about the only ones I could find. He's not as funny as Scotty.
      Tasha: They make love at the drop of a hat.
      Geordi: Any hat. --Justice
      Data: Sensors show nothing out there. Absolutely nothing.
      Geordi: Sure is a damned ugly nothing! --Where Silence has Lease
      "Like the rat said, keep the cheese, I just want out of the trap." --Where Silence Has Lease
      "I never lie when I've got sand in my shoes." --The Enemy
      After saving a Romulan: "Welcome to Galordon Core, where no good deed goes unpunished." --The Enemy
      "At first I thought the catwalk was spinning. As it turns out, it was me." --Cause and Effect
      "Is there a runaway cadet in here?" --Journey's End
      "We seem to have more than one mystery here." --Emergence
      http://tvsothertenpercent.tripod.com/startrek/geor di.html
      http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Nebula/9038/tngquo tes.html
      ___________________________________

  32. Ok ok -- here we go... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    1) I always knew that such an international collaboration is succeptible to fragmenting.

    2) Someone send in Tom Ridge with plastic wrap and duct tape.

    3) In ISS, the computers defrag you!

    4) The ISS -- Modular programming at its finest.

    5) ISS -- I could have sworn it was Apache Station

    6) NASA is waiting for an official patch for ISS

    7) Aussie quoted: "pull yourself together, mate! Yer fallin apart!"

    8) ISS -- where do you want to fragment today?

    1. Re:Ok ok -- here we go... by Hakubi_Washu · · Score: 2, Funny

      9)you might want to defrag that...

    2. Re:Ok ok -- here we go... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oops, at first I was reading this as IIS, not ISS. Need more caffiene, but I suspect there's a connection in there somewhere.

    3. Re:Ok ok -- here we go... by user32.ExitWindowsEx · · Score: 1

      10) ??????

      11) Profit!!!!!!

      --
      "Evil will always triumph because good is dumb." -- Dark Helmet
    4. Re:Ok ok -- here we go... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Someone send in Tom Ridge with plastic wrap and duct tape.

      But I don't think plastic wrap and duct tape are going to be enough to keep tom safe when he does his spacewalk.... oh, I get it ;) This has more to do with Tom not being at home and less to do with him fixing the space station!

  33. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    My brother once tried to convince me and my dad that his 13 year old JAG was designed to leak oil. Suppose to keep the frame rust free....

  34. Yeah, well, the article says it's a russian piece. by AzrealAO · · Score: 4, Informative

    the article says the piece was Russian, and is most likely part of one of the explosive bolt assemblies that holds the solar panels in the stowed position during launch.

    They're going to move the Canadarm into position to take a look at the solar panels on the Progress that recently docked, to see if the part is missing.

  35. has to be done... by Grayskies · · Score: 1

    ...in soviet russia space station breaks you! seriously, there is a ring of junk around the earth, it could be anything.

  36. Re:Well... by paroneayea · · Score: 1

    It isn't "American made" you fool!!!!
    That metal thing is clearly a very tiny alien spaceship.

    --
    http://mediagoblin.org/
  37. Re:I fail it, but will post my FP haiku anyway by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wow, you got every single criticism wrong. Are you sure you know what a haiku is?

  38. get a clue... by kyshtock · · Score: 1, Redundant
    ...and get the equivalent of a net.

    And, by the way, falling??? That baby is on the orbit! If something goes one way, something else (presumably the ISS) pushed it. There are some funny things here: 1. the ISS is loosing parts; 2. It's likely that those parts will return (orbit, remember), maybe with some velocity; 3. I'll be delighted when some fancy top secret military satelite will get a nice russian bolt right in it's precisely calibrated lens. THAT hopefully will be the closest thing to star wars, or whatever was the hyphen some decades ago.

    Mr. President, postphone a little the Mars trip, the station is about to fall on your empty suit, sir, mr. President, sir.

    INCOMING!!!!

    --
    Bite my shiny metal... oops... Nevermind!
    1. Re:get a clue... by geekoid · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Vehicals in orbit are falling, they just have enough forward velocity to miss.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    2. Re:get a clue... by kfg · · Score: 1

      . . .they just have enough forward velocity to miss.

      Ah! That's what I keep getting wrong.

      KFG

  39. Definitely ISS debris by Buran · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yes, it is station debris. The odds of anything passing within view of the crew is very, very small unless it came from the vehicle they are in. The kind of debris that is being talked about here (possibly launch stow clamps for Progress/Soyuz solar panels) is quite small and would be extremely difficult to see from greater distances. These parts are used to hold the solar panels in the folded position during ascent and are no longer needed once the spacecraft is in orbit and the panels unfold.

    The station normally has a Soyuz docked (for crew escape) and a Progress docked (for resupply and refuelling and trash stowage.) That's four solar panels right there. In addition, the Russian station modules (except for the Pirs airlock) have their own solar panels, as they operated autonomously at first, and provided power to the US modules earlier in the assembly sequence before the larger US array was added.

    The biggest worry is that one of these pieces could impact the station and damage it.

    1. Re:Definitely ISS debris by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      actually the article says that the debris, while moving away from the station, is not going at a much faster speed than the ISS, so even if it came back around and hit the station after a few orbits, it wouldnt damage it.

    2. Re:Definitely ISS debris by Hot_WA · · Score: 1

      Can anybody explain to me how does this statement agrees with the Law of Conservation of Momentum? I can't see how a piece of the ISS can overcome the ship or somehow get away from it but come back and hit the hull. Only an impact may -in my limited knowledge- explain this. Does anybody else have another explanation? P+

    3. Re:Definitely ISS debris by M1FCJ · · Score: 4, Informative
      There are many aspects. Earth is not a perfect sphere. This means there are many gravitational variations. This means along the path any piece of debris will be pulled towards earth with a different acceleration. This means the orbit will not be a perfect mathematical equation. This means a piece may move wrt the original location.

      The second is air resistance in that height. As anyone knows, air resistance depends on the surface area. The drag will depend on the total mass of the debris. This means relatively space station and the debris eventually will have relative speed difference and a piece of debris with enough m/s can have enough energy to pierce the hull, which is a simple aluminum tin, not a 10 cm solid sheet of steel. On the other hand the ISS hull is not a tin can, it is layered with lots of equipment and cables. This also means they will have trouble locating the hole. They had the same problem with Spectre module in Mir, whatever they did, they couldn't locate the hole from inside and outside. That's also why they had a pressure loss scare a couple of months ago. They just couldn't find if there was a hole or not.

    4. Re:Definitely ISS debris by mlyle · · Score: 4, Interesting

      To simplify it, simple harmonic motion-- the movement of the ISS around the earth.

      If you're on the ISS, and you "push" a bolt 1 foot below the station, without changing its orbital velocity, you have just moved the ellipse of the orbit of that object around the earth, but not changed its size.

      So when you have travelled 180 degrees around the earth, the object will want to be one foot higher than the station; another 180 degrees and back to 1 foot below, etc, oscillating back and forth. This is one of the fundamental ways that "microgravity" differs from true zero-gravity.

    5. Re:Definitely ISS debris by M1FCJ · · Score: 1

      before someone corrects me, the third sentence of the second paragraph is misleading. It should read the effect of the drag will depend on the total mass of the debris. Drag will create a force and the acceleration on the object will depend on the mass of the object.

    6. Re:Definitely ISS debris by arkhan_jg · · Score: 1

      I'm intruiged. How can there be air resistance in LEO? I know it's not a perfect vacuum up there, but still...

      --
      Remember kids, it's all fun and games until someone commits wholesale galactic genocide.
    7. Re:Definitely ISS debris by arkhan_jg · · Score: 1

      And to answer my own question, apparently there's atomic oxygen in noticeable quantities in LEO's such as the ISS is in. You learn something every day.

      --
      Remember kids, it's all fun and games until someone commits wholesale galactic genocide.
    8. Re:Definitely ISS debris by M1FCJ · · Score: 1

      Atmosphere doesn't cut off, it just gets thinner and thinner. There is enough air resistance at 450km, such that anything in LEO needs regular boosting. Larger surface area, more frequent boosting. Shuttle is important to ISS because it can boost it to a higher orbit. Otherwise you have to do this with Progress vehicles and they have limited amount of fuel on board so only so many times you can perform it. Anything that's in LEO is bound to crash back to earth, eventually. GEO is stable, they will loose their perfect orbit around the equator sometime int he future but they will not fall back to earth for thousands of years.

    9. Re:Definitely ISS debris by geoswan · · Score: 1
      I am thinking out loud here...

      Fasteners and labels that come loose will, initially, be moving at the same velocity as the ISS, agreed?

      During the 18th Century, during the days of sailing ships, ships could be becalmed for weeks. And they would be floating in a cloud of their own debris, kitchen scraps, empty casks, and, um, " admiral brown ". A ship the size of the USS Constitution would have a crew of 400. Imagine how much "admiral brown" she would be circled by following just a few days of no wind.

      If the debris seen from the ISS had the same surface to mass ratio as the ISS presumably it would just stick. But the ISS is hollow, and it has these big solar panels. So it would a fairly extreme drag, compared with mundane items like fasteners and labels.

      What happens to debris with a different drag than the ISS? If it has less drag it remains in a higher orbit than the ISS. If it has more drag than the ISS then it will migrate to a lower orbit than the ISS.

      If the debris is in a slightly higher orbit or a slightly lower orbit than the ISS then its period will be different. The way I see it the ISS will diverge from its debris. And the debris would form a smear, not a cloud.

      So, when could a peice of debris impact the ISS at any kind of velocity? It seems to me that the debris might impact the ISS when it lapped the ISS, or vice versa. If their orbits diverged enough for, let's say 10,001 orbits of the ISS to take the same time as 10,000 orbits by the debris, then they would be over the same position on the Earth, at the same time. Would the debris be in a high enough orbit to completely miss the ISS? By my back of the envelope calculations, the relative difference in orbital velocity would be something like 4 km per hour.

      If it took fewer orbits for the ISS to lap the debris, the relative difference would be greater. But with a greater difference in relative velocity there would be a greater vertical displacement.

  40. Try what they did on MIR by AtariAmarok · · Score: 4, Funny

    On MIR, when this happened, they just shipped up more vodka from the gravity well.

    Pretty soon, no-one cared that they were floating in a tin-can far above the world.

    Problem solved.

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  41. Like... what? by Greyfox · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Didn't we send any space duct tape up? Just wrap the whole damn thing up in a big ball of duct tape. It'll be fine!

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

  42. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    American, Russian.... it's all made in China nowadays

  43. Nature Calls by tds67 · · Score: 2, Funny
    During a spacewalk in early 2001, a dropped tool drifted away from the station..

    It must be cold in space for that to happen. But when you gotta go, you gotta go!

  44. Warning: by mark0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Objects in Mir are closer than they appear.

    Ooops. Wrong station.

    1. Re:Warning: by ElectricRook · · Score: 1

      Anything you meet in space is traveling way too fast.

      --
      - High Tech workers, please say NO to Union Carpenters, their Union sees fit to control our compensation.
  45. What happens when.... by acadiel · · Score: 3, Funny

    Just another day on the ISS when...

    (Carl) Hey, Herb - there's something floating outside

    (Herb) Well, take a picture of it with the camera on the robotic arm, for goodness sake!

    (Carl) Uh, Herb, we have a problem. It *IS* the robotic arm.

  46. It's actually... by AzrealAO · · Score: 4, Informative

    part of the explosive restraining bolt assembly, that keeps the solar panel stowed during launch. Once it get's into orbit, the bolt's are blown apart, and the solar panel's deploy, so they're not needed once the Progress is in orbit.

    The pieces of the bolt are supposed to stay secured to the spacecraft with restraining wire (so that you don't have bolts and stuff tumbling around in the same orbit with you). The article says they're going to move the Canadarm into position to check to see if one of these restraining bolts is missing.

    1. Re:It's actually... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the bolt's are blown apart, and the solar panel's deploy

      (shudder)

      Today's spelling tip: an apostrophe's purpose is NOT to serve as a warning that there is an S ahead. It is to show possessiveness or indicate a contraction. Thank you.

      (posted AC to avoid karma damage or aquiring karma points for a spelling flame)

    2. Re:It's actually... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...and the poster managed to lack any continuity by missing inappropriate apostrophes for "pieces," "bolts" (the second time,) "says," and yet a third "bolts."

      What a world.

    3. Re:It's actually... by Erik_ · · Score: 1

      Well... if only they had used Self-Sealing Stembolds from Quark's supply, we would have be talking about this a few months ago... ;-)

  47. Blaming Game begins again by fembots · · Score: 1

    In the article In this case, the best guess is that the bits of debris were a bolt and a washer from a Russian-built solar panel..

    I think for any future international effort, things should be built together instead of modularly built.

    1. Re:Blaming Game begins again by geekoid · · Score: 1

      here's an idea, use a bolt that has a hole in ot so you can slip a cooter pin in afetr you tighten the bolt down. so even if it come loose, the nut won't come off.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    2. Re:Blaming Game begins again by DOCStoobie · · Score: 0

      Yeah, and we can make a space shuttle or rocket 15 times larger than what we have today to get it into orbit, right?? I mean, a 3500 foot tall rocket oughta work right?? PLEASE don't tell me you ARE a rocket scientist....

    3. Re:Blaming Game begins again by sbb · · Score: 1

      so you can slip a cooter pin in ... so even if it come loose, the nut won't come off.

      Anybody else almost fall out of their chair when they misread that? (thanks to the wonderful Freudian typo)
    4. Re:Blaming Game begins again by scheme · · Score: 1
      here's an idea, use a bolt that has a hole in ot so you can slip a cooter pin in afetr you tighten the bolt down. so even if it come loose, the nut won't come off.

      The bolt in question is an explosive bolt that is blown off after the vechicle gets in orbit so that the solar arrays can open up. The bolts are supposed to open up but the restraining wires that keep the bolt attached to the vechicle apparently failed.

      --
      "When you sit with a nice girl for two hours, it seems like two minutes. When you sit on a hot stove for two minutes, it
  48. it's what you expect when... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    everything these days is built to the minumum specifications by the lowest bidder...

    Now who's up for that one-way trip to Mars???

  49. Rename the ISS by Migraineman · · Score: 5, Funny

    A long while ago, somebody* called Mir "The Orbiting Space Barge of Death." Perhaps the ISS could be renamed "The International Space Barge of Death."

    *(I wanna say it was from an old /. poll, but I couldn't locate the source.)

    1. Re:Rename the ISS by Tumbleweed · · Score: 1

      Hmm, too similar. I like, "The International Space Barge of DOOM." (Yes, all caps for 'doom'.)

      Either that or H.M.S. Bounty.

      Maybe "Deep Space 0"? No, wait, "Nostromo". Yeah, that's the ticket.

    2. Re:Rename the ISS by FuzzyBad-Mofo · · Score: 2, Funny

      Naming it Babylon 1 would be cool, just beware of sabotage!!

    3. Re:Rename the ISS by Tumbleweed · · Score: 1

      Well, definitely don't name it Babylon 4.

      Maybe Babylon 0..."our last, best hope for a publicity stunt disguised as science."

    4. Re:Rename the ISS by drudd · · Score: 2, Funny

      I notice you dropped the "Orbiting." Are you trying to imply something about ISS's near future?

      Doug

      --
      Venn ist das nurnstuck git und Slotermeyer? Ya! Beigerhund das oder die Flipperwaldt gersput!
    5. Re:Rename the ISS by red+floyd · · Score: 1

      How about "Ice Station Zebra", or "Red Zone Earth Orbit"?

      Or, best of all... "Manos: The Space Station of Fate".

      --
      The only reason we have the rights we have is that people just like us died to gain those rights. -- Cheerio Boy
    6. Re:Rename the ISS by Phroggy · · Score: 1
      --
      $x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
      $x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
  50. What's this "space station"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    The Space Station...what's it all about? Is it good or is it whack?

  51. Get over here!! by HarveyBirdman · · Score: 4, Funny
    And, by the way, falling??? That baby is on the orbit!

    C'mere you!

    *smack* "Falling apart" is just a saying. *smack* Now say it! *smack* Say it! *SLAP* That's right. *biff* Now who's yer daddy? *pow* Yeah, I thought so. *wham* Now, get back to work. *bonk*

    --
    --- Ban humanity.
  52. Re:scrumtrelescence by RoboB0B · · Score: 1

    Wow and I thought I was the only person in the world who remembered scrumtrelescence.

  53. Nuts by djtripp · · Score: 1

    While true, 1 bolt probably won't do much, its the remaining bolts around the do-hicky that need to tightened or checked. I remember missing a lugnut to my wheel on my truck, and I wasn't to concerned since there were 4 more, but I did replace it after I found it missing.

    --
    "This is you left and that's your left. This is your right and that's your right. You're gonna die!
  54. Great ... More Space Junk by Bob(TM) · · Score: 1

    We have a hard enough time tracking the breakup of stuff we left up there in the past.

    Space travel is hazardous enough ... even without the odd orbital debris. Just the odd paint chip can make for a very bad day.

    --

    The little guy just ain't getting it, is he?
  55. All I can say is... by Ninwa · · Score: 0

    Atleast they got the parts into space successfully...It's a start.

  56. Here's a question by samsmithnz · · Score: 1

    What happens to spaceman poop? Is it jetisoned as 'debris' too?

    From the article:
    "Yesterday, the crew observed another small piece of debris floating away from the ISS, apparently of Russian origin."

    1. Re:Here's a question by Mad+Alchemist · · Score: 1
      More than you ever wanted to know about it can be found here and a picture of the space toilet is here.

      Liquid waste is collected and jettisoned now and then, while solid waste is freeze-dried and brought back to earth.

      As a side note, I worked for a time at the company that makes the space toilet. The lead engineer is now legendary (and known as "Dr. Flush"). There are some great stories that people tell about when it was being developed. In order to test it properly for things like odor containment, they had to have real samples... so they had a trailer out back for employees to go, uh, contribute to science.

      There's also a story about a toilet malfunction and an astronaut eating M&Ms (on a live feed back to earth), but I won't get into that...

      Now, to figure out why I'm spending this much time posting about space toilets...

  57. locking wire by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    "The bolts are secured with a nut and a locking wire, and apparently one of them came free."

    that's not likely to give anyone the warm fuzzies. locking wire doesn't come off unless it's the wrong size or it was used wrong. (like a nick in it which'll become a crack, or if applied backwards or such like.) either way, it's the sort of error that if done once due to incompetence, it was possibly done several times by the incompetent.

    or the wire might have been cut by impact, but it's pretty strong stuff. that sort of impact would have been noticed and logged, i'd think.

    anyway, hopefully this scotty quote stuff will settle down and perhaps we can get some space hardware junkies to comment. dig through your drawings, guys (gals?). does this indeed look like the soyuz hardware descibed? and are russian bolts locked down with stardard locking wire practice, or is it more of a custom pin system in this case and something was lost in the translation from tech to layman?

  58. Moon station... by avc · · Score: 2, Funny

    Now I see why they want to build the next one on the moon. No parts lost in space, just collect and reassemble...

  59. Labels? wtf?! by DR+SoB · · Score: 3, Funny

    "the International Space Station. From the article, 'Such debris may include fragments of insulation, labels and possibly important components.'"

    Anyone else curious why they would put LABELS on the outside of ISS? (THIS SIDE UP!)? I wonder how many UFO's have read them yet..

    --
    Mod +5 Drunk
  60. And in related news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Today in "News That's Weak"...
    "Darl McBride has announced that he intends to make a personal visit to validate each and every one of the SCO UNIX(tm) licenses for the equipment up there.
    The launch is scheduled for 4th July, 2004."

    Reported by "Grain of Salt Lake Herald"...
    "NASA announced funding cut backs. They have been given till the 4th of July to slice 4 billion dollars off their spending. The CFO has stated that first on the list for budget cuts will be the spacesuits that are used by non-NASA vistors to the Space Station. By changing to new "fully tested" one-way penguin suits, NASA will save approximately 1 million per suit per visitor per trip. This will be implemented in time for the 4th of July launch."

  61. Has anyone noticed Scotty's resemblance.. by A55M0NKEY · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    to Captain Kangaroo?

    --

    Eat at Joe's.

  62. Shaking it up? by MrEd · · Score: 4, Funny
    In the past, during periods of strong rhythmic thumping on an exercise device, the solar arrays on docked Soyuz and Progress craft can be observed to jiggle.

    ... okay, guys, lay off the rythmic thumping, ok?

    --

    Wah!

    1. Re:Shaking it up? by Jimee+D'Geek · · Score: 2, Funny

      If this station's rockin'
      Don't come knockin'

    2. Re:Shaking it up? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In the past, during periods of strong rhythmic thumping on an exercise device, the solar arrays on docked Soyuz and Progress craft can be observed to jiggle.

      Astronauts' penises are referred to as "exercise devices"?

    3. Re:Shaking it up? by Cally · · Score: 1
      In the past, during periods of strong rhythmic thumping on an exercise device, the solar arrays on docked Soyuz and Progress craft can be observed to jiggle.

      Is it just me or... does that kinda imply that the microgravity research is basically impossible on the ISS? accelerations sufficiently large to flex portions of the structure will be enough to fsck anything dependent on zero gee.

      Yes I know they're not doing any science _now_ but I thought the original idea (before Columbia) was to do something useful up there one day.

      --
      "None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." -- Goethe
    4. Re:Shaking it up? by gorilla · · Score: 1
      Is it just me or... does that kinda imply that the microgravity research is basically impossible on the ISS?

      Yes. It's a big white elephant.

  63. Re:I fail it, but will post my FP haiku anyway by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Here's a haiku for you,
    You have been trolled.
    Have a nice day.

  64. could be worse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Slowly is definitely better than quickly.

  65. The real conclusion by Zebra_X · · Score: 5, Informative

    That first paragraph prented as the headline is a bit inaccurate. Basically the article goes on to explain that the part in question is part of an explosive bolt, read, disposable. The space station is not falling apart as out slashdot editors would have us believe.

    Images of the object were sent to the Russians, and the boltlike object looked familiar. "Preliminary info from Moscow indicates that the eyebolt may be from the Soyuz solar arrays," the NASA report said. "Four of them are used to safe the [solar array] during launch with a hook mechanism, which is released via [explosive bolt] after insertion [into orbit]. The bolts are secured with a nut and a locking wire, and apparently one of them came free."

    The same bolts are used both on the Soyuz crew transport spacecraft and on Progress, the Russian-built cargo-only ship. Both vehicles are currently docked at the station, and NASA sources said Tuesday the Russians now believe the piece actually came off the Progress, which arrived at the space station at the end of last month. In the past, during periods of strong rhythmic thumping on an exercise device, the solar arrays on docked Soyuz and Progress craft can be observed to jiggle.

    1. Re:The real conclusion by psoriac · · Score: 4, Funny

      In the past, during periods of strong rhythmic thumping on an exercise device,

      Is that the space euphemism for "having sex"?

      --
      I browse Slashdot at +3, Funny
  66. Almost. Exact quotes from IMDB. by antdude · · Score: 4, Informative

    From IMDB:

    Lev Andropov: Excuse me, but I think I know how to fix this.
    Watts: Move it! You don't know the components!
    Lev Andropov: [annoyed] Components. American components, Russian Components, ALL MADE IN TAIWAN!!!

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  67. I got a quote for you. by lone_marauder · · Score: 1

    Stay back 200 ft. Not responsible for broken windshield.

    --
    who are those slashdot people? they swept over like Mongol-Tartars.
    1. Re: I got a quote for you. by El · · Score: 1

      And here I thought it was the "Caution: Driver Chews Tobacco" bumber sticker...

      --

      "Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney

  68. Ever seen a shooting star? by djeaux · · Score: 1

    It may be less romantic than you though ;-)

    --
    "Obviously, I'm not an IBM computer any more than I'm an ashtray" (Bob Dylan)
  69. Scotty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    1. "It fits like a glove, Captain." -- Scotty, Where No Man Has Gone Before, stardate 1312.4, Episode 2
    2. "Even if we were under full scale attack I couldn't move any faster, not and maintain a safety factor." -- Scotty, The Naked Time, stardate 1704.2, Episode 7
    3. "That was a pretty good gamble." -- Scotty, The Galileo Seven, stardate 2821.5, Episode 14
    4. "I'd love to tear this baby apart." -- Scotty, Space Seed, stardate 3141.9, Episode 24
    5. "The warp drive is a hopeless pile of junk." -- Scotty, The Doomsday Machine, stardate 4202.9, Episode 35
    6. "The shape the thing's in it's hard to keep it from blowin'." -- Scotty, The Doomsday Machine, stardate 4202.9, Episode 35
    7. "Laddie...don't you think you should...rephrase that?" -- Scotty, The Trouble With Tribbles, stardate 4523.3, Episode 42
    8. "It's, uh, it's green!" -- Scotty, By Any Other Name, stardate 4657.5, Episode 50
    9. "Any man who could perform such a feat, I wo'd na dare disappoint. She'll launch on time. And she'll be ready." -- Scotty, Star Trek: The Motion Picture
    10. "It's borderline on the simulator, we need to do more tests." -- Scotty, Star Trek: The Motion Picture
    11. "Just a minute, Exec, we're picking up the pieces down here." -- Scotty, Star Trek: The Motion Picture
    12. "The engine imbalance is what caused the worm-hole in the first place. It'll happen again if we don't fix it." -- Scotty, Star Trek: The Motion Picture
    13. "We can't take another attack." -- Scotty, Star Trek: The Motion Picture
    14. "Just the batteries. I can give you inpulse power in a couple minutes." -- Scotty, Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan
    15. "Aye. And if my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a wagon." -- Scotty, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
    16. "A chimpazee and two trainees could run her." -- Scotty, "Thank you. I'll try not to take that personally." -- Kirk, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
    17. "Scotty, you're as good as your word." -- kirk, "Aye sir, the more they overtake the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain." -- Scotty, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
    18. "Aye. Warp drive standing by." -- Scotty, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
    19. "I find it hard to believe I've traveled millions of miles..." -- Scotty, "...thousands..." -- McCoy, "...thousands of miles for an invited tour..." -- Scotty, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
    20. "A ship is a ship." -- Kirk, "Whatever you say...thy will be done." -- Scotty, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
    21. "I know this ship like the back of my hand (bonk)." -- Scotty, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
    22. "All I can say is...they don't make them like they used ta." -- Scotty, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
    23. "How many times da I have to tell ya...the right tool for the right job!" -- Scotty, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
    24. "Finding retirement a wee bit lonely, aren't we?" -- Scotty to Kirk, Star Trek VII: Generations
    25. "I've given her all she's got captain, and I can't give her no more." -- Scotty, (Several Times)
    26. "She won't take much more of this." -- Scotty, (Several Times)
    27. "This jurry-rigging won't last for long..." -- Scotty, (Several Times)
    28. "Are ya daft lad!!!" -- Scotty to Geordi LaForge, Relics
    29. "NCC 1701. No bloody A, B, C, or D." -- Scotty yelling at the Enterprise-D's holodeck computer, Relics
    30. "It's...it's... ... ...um, it's green." -- Data to Scotty, refering to an unmarked bottle of alcoholic content while with him in Ten Forward, Relics

    Booyeah

  70. Open the podbay doors, Hal. by nphillips · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm sorry Dave, I can not do that. It fell off already.

  71. Remember... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The proper word is "Remind", but I guess you forgot...

  72. OT: See Also by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  73. Wasn't that... by khrtt · · Score: 1

    ...a grenade pin??

  74. ISS is part of NASA long term, like it or not by Ars-Fartsica · · Score: 1
    They are not going to bring the thing down.

    They are not going to close it and bring the crew home.

    There is too much American pride wrapped up in this thing even if it servers not purpose, and that means it will stay up there no matter what.

    Some have theorized that the entire moon/Mars thing is simply a glorified plan to wrap ISS in some purpose people can grasp.

    In any case, the Boeing gravy train will continue to orbit for some time.

  75. Oh great by Savatte · · Score: 5, Funny

    my head injury from Skylab just cleared up 3 days ago, now I have to worry about this.

  76. Re:scrumtrelescence by The+Human+Cow · · Score: 1

    Not even close.

    --
    The Human Cow - bringing you scrumtrelescence since 1995
  77. Re:Yeah, well, the article says it's a russian pie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    A Russian piece? Sounds exciting. What does she look like?

  78. Canadian parts..... by DOCStoobie · · Score: 0

    Its those canadian parts coming off, trying to say that it is the wreckless american's fault....

  79. Geocities Quotes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's hard to believe it hasn't been /.ed yet. I'd guess it's not just the free Geocities plan.

    "It fits like a glove, Captain." -- Scotty, Where No Man Has Gone Before, stardate 1312.4, Episode 2
    "Even if we were under full scale attack I couldn't move any faster, not and maintain a safety factor." -- Scotty, The Naked Time, stardate 1704.2, Episode 7
    "That was a pretty good gamble." -- Scotty, The Galileo Seven, stardate 2821.5, Episode 14
    "I'd love to tear this baby apart." -- Scotty, Space Seed, stardate 3141.9, Episode 24
    "The warp drive is a hopeless pile of junk." -- Scotty, The Doomsday Machine, stardate 4202.9, Episode 35
    "The shape the thing's in it's hard to keep it from blowin'." -- Scotty, The Doomsday Machine, stardate 4202.9, Episode 35
    "Laddie...don't you think you should...rephrase that?" -- Scotty, The Trouble With Tribbles, stardate 4523.3, Episode 42
    "It's, uh, it's green!" -- Scotty, By Any Other Name, stardate 4657.5, Episode 50
    "Any man who could perform such a feat, I wo'd na dare disappoint. She'll launch on time. And she'll be ready." -- Scotty, Star Trek: The Motion Picture
    "It's borderline on the simulator, we need to do more tests." -- Scotty, Star Trek: The Motion Picture
    "Just a minute, Exec, we're picking up the pieces down here." -- Scotty, Star Trek: The Motion Picture
    "The engine imbalance is what caused the worm-hole in the first place. It'll happen again if we don't fix it." -- Scotty, Star Trek: The Motion Picture
    "We can't take another attack." -- Scotty, Star Trek: The Motion Picture
    "Just the batteries. I can give you inpulse power in a couple minutes." -- Scotty, Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan
    "Aye. And if my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a wagon." -- Scotty, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
    "A chimpazee and two trainees could run her." -- Scotty, "Thank you. I'll try not to take that personally." -- Kirk, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
    "Scotty, you're as good as your word." -- kirk, "Aye sir, the more they overtake the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain." -- Scotty, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
    "Aye. Warp drive standing by." -- Scotty, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
    "I find it hard to believe I've traveled millions of miles..." -- Scotty, "...thousands..." -- McCoy, "...thousands of miles for an invited tour..." -- Scotty, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
    "A ship is a ship." -- Kirk, "Whatever you say...thy will be done." -- Scotty, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
    "I know this ship like the back of my hand (bonk)." -- Scotty, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
    "All I can say is...they don't make them like they used ta." -- Scotty, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
    "How many times da I have to tell ya...the right tool for the right job!" -- Scotty, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
    "Finding retirement a wee bit lonely, aren't we?" -- Scotty to Kirk, Star Trek VII: Generations
    "I've given her all she's got captain, and I can't give her no more." -- Scotty, (Several Times)
    "She won't take much more of this." -- Scotty, (Several Times)
    "This jurry-rigging won't last for long..." -- Scotty, (Several Times)
    "Are ya daft lad!!!" -- Scotty to Geordi LaForge, Relics
    "NCC 1701. No bloody A, B, C, or D." -- Scotty yelling at the Enterprise-D's holodeck computer, Relics
    "It's...it's... ... ...um, it's green." -- Data to Scotty, refering to an unmarked bottle of alcoholic content while with him in Ten Forward, Relics

    http://www.geocities.com/Area51/3253/regular_doo ha n.html
    James Doohan Page
    http://www.geocities.com/Area51/3253/index.h tml
    Star Trek TOS Page
    http://www.geocities.com/
    Geocities Main Page

  80. i have a question by WormholeFiend · · Score: 1

    I dont mean to be offtopic or seen as a flamebait, but where are all the slashdotters clamoring for the scrapping of the ISS program, in order to save the Hubble satellite?

    I think a great way for NASA to get out of its current catch-22 would be to fake a disaster, get the astro/cosmonauts to evac in the soyuz, and de-orbit the station with a big bang and lots of sparks and contrails...

  81. Re:Well... by geekoid · · Score: 1

    for all we know, that could be HUGE for an alien spaceship.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  82. space duct tape erodes! by morcheeba · · Score: 4, Informative

    Kapton tape, which is essentially used as space duct tape, erodes in the presence of atomic oxygen. Atomic oxygen (just a single O, not the usual stable O2) is quite reactive, and will eat away many materials on the leading edge of spacecraft. Atomic oxygen is found more in the lower orbits (i.e. ISS and space shuttle) rather than the higer orbits (geosynchronous). Here are some pictures from the experiment.

    (yep, I'm a former rocket scientist)

    1. Re:space duct tape erodes! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I knew there had to be another use for Kapton tape other than using it for electronic assembly an speakers. I used a lot of Kapton tape to mask gold tabs on boards before sending them through a flow solder machine or repairing boards at a solder fountain/flow well.

    2. Re:space duct tape erodes! by grozzie2 · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Followed the links, some interesting pictures from the experiments, especially if you backtrack and read the whole piece on the LDEF. But, I'm a little surprised, I've never heard this mission mentioned by all the conspiracy folks. Consider now the facts of LDEF.

      The experiment container was carried into orbit aboard Challenger. Challenger was later lost in a launch incident.

      The experiment container was retrieved from orbit and carried thru re-entry by Columbia. Columbia was later lost in a re-entry incident.

      I've NEVER seen this mentioned in even the most wacko of conspiracy sites regarding the space program. This is to rich, I mean here it is, a solid link between the two incidents that resulted in loss of a shuttle. I mean it just doesn't get any better for those folks, here is an experiment that was carried on 2 shuttles, and both of those shuttles were subsequently lost during flight operations headed the same direction they carried LDEF. Challenger on the ascent, Columbia on the descent. Conspiracy? Curse? cmon, this is the stuff on which conspiracy sites thrive.

      For those that really want to dig into it in a big way, LDEF was originally intended to be a 1 year mission, but, due to a few flight cancellations (after challenger accident) it turned into a much longer stay on orbit. In reality, the orbit retrieval was postponed a few times, to the point the experiment was almost lost to orbit decay before it was retrieved. C'mon all you conspiracy writers, here's a golden plot twist, why was the retrieval continually postponed almost to the point of loss, what were they hiding ????

      ok, i've had my fun for the day, now I'll just sit back and wait to see how long it takes for some consipiracy author to pick up on this, and write a really cool twist to it all. Should be a great fun read when it happens.

  83. No Disrespecting the Duct by glpierce · · Score: 1

    Ahem.

    Duct tape does not just "come off".

    Thank you.

    --
    G
    1. Re:No Disrespecting the Duct by (H)elix1 · · Score: 1

      Duct tape does not just "come off".

      Sounds like you never tried to fix a plumbing leak with it...

  84. Re:Labels? wtf?! by Tango42 · · Score: 1

    They could be useful while it's being constructed on Earth, when it's being maintained during space walks, while it's being checked by camera, etc, etc, etc.

  85. Nightmare at 1.2 million feet (roughly) by FarmerDave · · Score: 1

    Hope no one looks out the window and sees a gremlin ripping pieces off. (225.89 miles = ~ 1.2 million feet) (225.89 miles from this site: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/tracking/)

    --

    THINK
  86. Re:Well... by paroneayea · · Score: 1

    Based upon the evidence you have brought forth, I believe this must be the destroyer ship of the dreaded Microns. To arms! Prepare your tinfoil hats and laser pointers!

    --
    http://mediagoblin.org/
  87. Re:Labels? wtf?! by zapp · · Score: 1

    I dunno about UFOs, but maybe docking space craft from Earth might find it useful...

    --
    no comment
  88. if it's true that pieces are falling off... by ZipR · · Score: 4, Funny

    and if these pieces are coming to earth... I think it may be time for me to add an extra layer of protection to my tinfoil hat.

  89. Re:Labels? wtf?! by M1FCJ · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Something people don't understand is once you've been up there, most probably you won't go back again unless you are lucky/have a good relationship with management. Most people go to space for at most three times, only one has been there for seven times. Russians have a smaller cosmonaut team. This means they can actually have people experienced with the actual thing. Two years of training and two weeks on the shuttle is nothing compared to the russian cosmonauts' flying time experience.

    As a result, when you are in the station, you won't be able to find anything. This was a major issue with Mir and Skylab, probably it was with Salyuts as well. No one stows the experiment equipment once they use it, just straps it into a convenient location. If you do a space walk, the chances are it will be your first time outside of the space station and you will get lost, won't find what you are looking for and won't remember the training session you had a year ago in a boring, hot Texan day.

    Labels are for convenience.

  90. Favourite Quote... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "In the past, during periods of strong rhythmic thumping on an exercise device, the solar arrays on docked Soyuz and Progress craft can be observed to jiggle."

  91. LABELS???? by DOCStoobie · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yeah, you know, the "caution, reading this from outside the space station amy cause you to implode." and the "Unleaded Fuel Only." and of course the "Oxygen in use, avoid all sparks or open flames." Oh, and the bumper sticker"My other shit can doesn't orbit."

    1. Re:LABELS???? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unleaded Fuel Only? hey... what's the TLA for that? oh, wait...

    2. Re:LABELS???? by Richy_T · · Score: 1
      "Honk if you don't know that sound doesn't carry in space"

      "Jesus isn't my co-pilot, he couldn't cut the training".

      Rich

  92. Misread by vertigo · · Score: 1

    Am i the only one who misread the title as "SparcStation slowly falling apart" ?

  93. In other news...a larger piece of ISS found in NYC by Frennzy · · Score: 2, Funny

    The debris seen floating away from the ISS pales in comparison to the latest piece of ejecta.

    Apparently, the communication module for the ISS broke away last week, and was large enough to survive re-entry to the earth's atmosphere.

    Officials tracked the piece via radar until it impacted somehwere in NYC.

    Officials now say they have located the piece, which is in the possession of a street rapper named J-pod. When asked if he would return the piece to scientists for further investigation, he replied, "No WAY, dog...this thing bumps so loud and picks some so many stations...I ain't givin' it back to NObody!"

    (with apologies to SNL for their original piece on skylab way back when)

  94. Re: ... yeap, I drunk it... by JohnDoe.Slashed · · Score: 0

    Sorry, I was planning to give it back to you when I would finish it but then I noticed it was so funny throwing space station parts in space...

  95. Broken Haiku troll, I SALUTE YOU! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Q: Why do programmers confuse Kwanza and Labor day?

    A:Because you're an over literal anal retentive NERD!

  96. Hmm by fufighter · · Score: 1

    You know your in trouble when the window your looking out flys away...

  97. more like... by jonfromspace · · Score: 1

    Mir = NASCAR

    ISS = Formula One

    Still, it's amazing that Mir was so successful, givin the # of near disasters it had.

    Methinks that Nasa is just a little over cautious with the ISS since losing a second shuttle. Probably not a bad idea though.

    --
    I am become Troll, destroyer of threads
  98. Re:Labels? wtf?! by DR+SoB · · Score: 2, Funny

    Damn mods, I've never been modded +anything for funny. This was my best attempt. I'm a complete failure. MUST POST SOMETHING FUNNY!

    --
    Mod +5 Drunk
  99. Wait, wait, wait... by Bagels · · Score: 2, Funny
    so that means in America, the *bills pay us*?

    I gotta get me some of those bills!

    --
    --- Bwah?
  100. Re:Labels? wtf?! by Buran · · Score: 1

    The labels are mostly for spacewalking astronauts. The ISS (and other satellites, most famously the HST and Solar Max) were designed for on-orbit servicing, so instructions are printed on them for astronauts to follow while working.

  101. Slowly Falling Apart? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    I'd say. It's called Entropy :)

  102. <Fast-Paced Bass Line><Popping Sounds> by severoon · · Score: 1

    Cosmonaut: Hey...what's all that stuff floating away from the space station over there?
    Astronaut: Uh oh. That's not gonna to be good for business...
    Jerry Seinfeld: --that's not gonna be good for anybody.

    (Kramer floats by in a space suit, visibly upset.)

    Thank you, thank you. Thank you all very much.

    sev

    --
    but have you considered the following argument: shut up.
  103. Re:Labels? wtf?! by DR+SoB · · Score: 1

    Does this mean that, since now, the labels are missing, there will be a crapload of lots soviet cosmonaut's?!

    --
    Mod +5 Drunk
  104. Re:Labels? wtf?! by M1FCJ · · Score: 1

    :-) Don't think so. It's the americans who run the ISS. Russians only get paid as taxi drivers and delivery man. :-) Russians' involvement is all a nice PR show. They can hardly build two soyuz crafts and a couple of Progress every year. That's not enough for a serious space program (but still, compared to the rest of the world, they still have the best and safest space program in the world).

  105. What happened in the editorial room?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Sometimes, when reading these stories from "official" news sources, I'm completely stymied by how the quotes were edited into the story. Take, for example, the quote from this story on MSNBC:
    Preliminary info from Moscow indicates that the eyebolt may be from the Soyuz solar arrays... Four of them are used to safe the [solar array] during launch with a hook mechanism, which is released via [explosive bolt] after insertion [into orbit]. The bolts are secured with a nut and a locking wire, and apparently one of them came free.
    The words "solar array," "explosive bolt," and "into orbit" were added or changed from their original words. I can guess that "into orbit" was added for clarity. Probably "solar array" was a replacement for "damn useless pile of crap" or somesuch - but, What on Earth could "explosive bolt" been a replacement for? "Nuclear decoupling device?" "Things that blow up?" What could the original quote have been!?!?? I hate MS NBC and all other news sources that suck.
  106. Bloody special olympics in space by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I heard the next crew was going to be "A woman, a black, two dips and a cripple"!

  107. Re: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Die.

  108. And that's just... by LooseChanj · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...the stuff we know about. We had a discussion about this at work recently, and noted that if you wanted to point a camera looking *forward* and *below* for any departing debris.

    --
    Mix the failings of Usenet with the shortcomings of the World Wide Web and the result is slashdot.
  109. Re:Fun and Games on the station (OT reply) by Eristone · · Score: 1

    Dangit man! Ya gotta warn people before ya post stuff like this. Do you know how hard it is to get Mountain Dew out of a notebook?

  110. Russian by Fiz+Ocelot · · Score: 2, Funny

    I don't quite understand how they just assume these are russian parts floating away? I certainly would find it a bit disturbing whatever it was though... maybe they should have used duct tape?

  111. "Aggressive safety program" -- what happened? by Shakrai · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm surprised that nobody else noticed this (too busy making Scottie jokes) but read this paragraph from the end of the MSNBC article:

    During the Apollo missions, debris flaking off spacecraft became such a common occurrence that astronauts and ground controllers nicknamed them "moon pigeons." At that time, NASA created an aggressive safety program to detect and identify all such objects in case any were indicative of some unexpected failure mode of the space vehicles.

    So, what happened? Was this "aggressive safety program" discontinued after Apollo or just ignored when chunks of foam fell off the fuel tank and hit Columbia?

    --
    I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
    We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
  112. Re:ISS is part of NASA long term ..maybe by cyberchondriac · · Score: 2, Informative

    From what I've read, NASA (or maybe the White House) isn't as keen on the ISS as the Russians would like us to be, and they've expressed concern that we might be looking to back out of it in some way or another. Here's one link I dug up, but not the best: http://www.space.com/news/russia_iss_011106.html The upshot is, the US can afford to abandon the ISS if necessary, but it'll practically bankrupt Russia. Wouldn't be too good for relations.

    --

    Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
  113. Mir Means Peace by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Mir means "peace"

  114. Sun to earth? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    does that mean the sun is falling towards earth? It just has enough forward velocity to miss?

    1. Re:Sun to earth? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nah, it's falling towards the galactic core.

    2. Re:Sun to earth? by Texas+Rose+on+Lava+L · · Score: 1

      Yes, the sun is "falling towards Earth" in the sense that the Earth's gravity pulls the sun towards the earth... but the earth is also falling towards the sun, and since the sun is much more massive than the earth, the earth orbits the sun and not the other way around. Actually, the earth is pulling every other object in the universe toward it, but most of them have much stronger forces acting on them at the same time, so it doesn't make much difference.

  115. Falling Apart by TurnerK12 · · Score: 1

    Maybe this is a sign that NASA doesn't have as much funding as we all thought. They must hire cheap labor to build things.
    ---
    http://spaceruckus.web1000.com
    These guys are putting together a free 3D action/adventure game.

  116. Spin my nipple nuts and send me to Alaska by serutan · · Score: 2, Funny

    I sure hope they don't lose the Blue Alert bulb.

  117. Falling? by e.m.rainey · · Score: 1

    While a space station is techincally falling contiuously, is it apt to say that it is "falling apart?" Why not "floating apart" or better "drifting apart". If there's one thing that that orbiting pile of junk can do for us that's worth anything, it's to rethink some of our terrestrial metaphors when applied to near-space conditions.

    --
    The next remark is false. The previous remark is true.
  118. Some Solutions... by TomRC · · Score: 1

    Maybe we should be abandoning the ISS instead of the Hubble.

    Or maybe we should put the ISS in a big plastic bag to catch all the parts before they get away and cause serious harm later.

    Or maybe there should be a little autonomous dog-bot to go out and fetch the parts thrown off by the ISS - assuming you could trust dogbot not to sneak away itself.

  119. Ugh by AnimeFreak · · Score: 1

    If push comes to shove, just find an inanimate carbon rod and all problems will be solved.

  120. ^^ Mod +5 Funny ^^ by John+Seminal · · Score: 0, Redundant

    ROFL!!! You should write for a comedy show.

    --

    Rosco: "If brains were gunpowder, Enos couldn't blow his nose."

  121. The Age-Old "Mommy, Mommy" joke: by thedbp · · Score: 1

    Kid: Mommy, mommy, I think our space station is falling apart!

    Mommy: Shutup and keep your finger plugging that hole in the hull!

  122. No, the manufacturers by pjt33 · · Score: 2, Funny
    Perhaps the problem is the drivers.

    No, it's the manufacturers who keep everything closed-source.

    1. Re:No, the manufacturers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ah, they welded the hood shut on yours too, eh?

  123. In other news... by dacarr · · Score: 1

    Debris was spotted flying away from dacarr's mouth as he coughed violently on the bus home from work. Some of this debris may be teeth, his soft palate, throat lozenges, his uvula, or altoids.

    --
    This sig no verb.
  124. I was wondering.... by Yoda2 · · Score: 1

    ...if someone would finally notice that.

  125. sig by Gothmolly · · Score: 1

    That is the geekiest, nerdiest sig I've seen on here. Straight from the AD&D DM's guide, I love it!

    --
    I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
  126. Duct Tape by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Perl's the duct tape of the internet, surely they could run some up there on the space station, it'd be ugly but would keep things together. At least the things that get away would run away slower...

  127. Re:Labels? wtf?! by Keith+McClary · · Score: 1

    I'm imagining yellow stickies.

  128. the problem by VanillaCoke420 · · Score: 1

    Problem is, it's not the 60's, and von Braun and Korolev aren't around anymore. Where are the badass engineers?

    1. Re:the problem by anubi · · Score: 1
      I think JPL somehow held onto the really good ones.

      I don't think many of us survived the Goldin years. Yeh, the 60's... those were the days. Definitely. I still go by old Gene Kranz's motto... "Failure is NOT an option!".

      I guess its no big thing though... We don't build technology stuff much in this country anymore. I guess we won't even design it much anymore. I note even we are beginning to outsource even medical work. But we will do what we are really good at... that is arguing about who can do what.

      When our Congress sees the need for us to get back to work, they will rescind restrictive legislation and again encourage acquiring skills and economically viable employment in the technical sector... but for now, it looks good on the books to outsource technology development. For the time being, we can simply print more money to make business happy, giving them the requisite year-to-year "sales gains" that keep them from crying and declaring "recession", despite the flood of dollars becoming so worthless that it now takes damn near a half-million of them to buy a house that 20 years ago sold for $70,000.

      --
      "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]

  129. No no dont do it, think of the children.. by adeyadey · · Score: 1

    and I for one welcome our new insectoid overlords.

    --
    "You lied to me! There is a Swansea!"
  130. crew floating away by kwoff · · Score: 1

    "MSNBC discusses debris apparently seen by the crew floating away from the International Space Station."

    Why is everyone talking about debris when the crew is fucking floating away!

    (Note: intentional (mis)placement of word "fucking")

  131. Sooo... by protovirus · · Score: 1

    Once again it costs billions to learn that...
    design by committee sucks.

  132. for the real NASA types out here by alizard · · Score: 1
    What would a ballpark figure on a limited-functionality space crew shack capable of keeping 10 people alive as long as consumables are shipped up, with the usual solar power array with the emphasis on simple, reliable design?

    Would nuclear submarine technology apply here?

  133. Re:ISS is part of NASA long term ..maybe by Jarlsberg · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Be realistic. While the US backing out of the ISS project would have a catastrophic impact on Russia's space program, it wouldn't bankrupt Russia.

  134. Re:Fun and Games on the station (OT reply) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    If I forwarn people I won't make as much commission from the Sony repair depot. :)

  135. Russian Space Program V. American Space Program by tekrat · · Score: 1

    Mir lasted 5 times longer than it was supposed to, the ISS lasted 5 times LESS longer than it was supposed to.

    Understand there are differences between the way the Russians do space programs and the way Americans do.

    Early on, for example, the Americans had trouble writing down notes while in space. Ball-point pens didn't work, as the ink, in zero-G, didn't flow. This made working the checklists of hundreds of items difficult.

    Thus, NASA developed, at a cost of over a million dollars, a pen with a pressurized cartridge to force the ink out regardless of the position it's in. You've probably seen this pen in novelty stores and in staples as "The Pen That Writes Upisde-Down and Underwater"...

    The Russians used a pencil.

    This is WHY Mir lasted so long and the ISS is falling apart.

    (sigh)

    --
    If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
    1. Re:Russian Space Program V. American Space Program by coloclone · · Score: 1

      Except that story is not true. NASA only paid 2.95 a pen and the company started by Paul Fisher paid for all the R&D.

      Check the link for details

  136. what? by Tumbleweed · · Score: 1

    Insightful?

    Did somebody select the wrong option in the drop-down or something?

  137. Nothing wrong with the Brits... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The UK road death rate is 6.1 per 100,000 population. The US has 14.8 per 100,000. So don't blame our driving...

  138. Last Post by VAXcat · · Score: 1

    ...and it's the first ever Last Post! I Rule!

    --
    There is no God, and Dirac is his prophet.
  139. I physically disable and or remove sound drivers.. by xtal · · Score: 1

    After once hearing "HEY EVERYBODY!" and having to rip the power cord from my computer after someone send me a redirect to a infamous site. (trolls?)

    --
    ..don't panic