International Space Station Cupola Video Released

quaith writes "With the Space Shuttle Endeavour scheduled to launch at 4:39 AM EST on Sunday for a trip to the International Space Station, the European Space Agency has released a video that shows how the modules it's carrying — Node-3 ('Tranquility') and Cupola — are going to get attached. Node-3 is a connecting module. Cupola has six trapezoidal windows and circular roof designed to provide a unique vantage-point for observing Earth. The video animations show how the station's robotic arm will be used initially to put the modules in place as a single unit, and then to detach Cupola from the end of Node-3 and reattach it on the Earth-facing side. With this addition, the ISS will start to look like something that Jules Verne would have wanted to visit."

Comments

Two astronauts...

[nacturation]

... one cupola?

Re:Two astronauts...

[wwwillem]

Yes, but with seven windows. And I didn't see curtains .....

Re:Two astronauts...

[DigiShaman]

Two astronauts in, three astronauts out???

Re:Two astronauts...

[gcnaddict]

There were mechanical covers on the outside that opened almost like flower petals.

I want a room with a view

[v1]

and that looks like it delivers. Interesting idea to forge the frame from a single piece of aluminum... definitely saved some weight on a bunch more seals...

Re:I want a room with a view

[argent]

Seals are so heavy, They would have saved a bunch of weight by using sea otters holding hands.

Re:I want a room with a view

[QuantumPion]

You call that an observation deck? Looks more like the cockpit of a TIE fighter to me...

Market

[NonSequor]

This is going to do wonders for their resale value when the market turns around.

Well, they may call it "Tranquility"

[portforward]

but I know it my heart it should be "Colbert."

Re:Well, they may call it "Tranquility"

[MichaelSmith]

but I know it my heart it should be "Colbert."

I would vote for "Buzz" but I guess people would feel strange saying "Lets meet in Buzz", etc.

Re:Well, they may call it "Tranquility"

[Hurricane78]

Bah. You are too modest.
I say: Only they call it Tranquility. ^^
The rest of the world won’t even/ever know what that’s supposed to be.;)

If I ever meet a NASA/ESA/whatever employee/astronaut, I will annoy the hell out of him, by answering to a “blablabla... Tranquility ...blablabla” statement with “What?... Aaahh, you mean the Colbert module!”! :D

Re:Well, they may call it "Tranquility"

[Erbo]

I voted for "Serenity." 'Cos you can't take the sky from me.

But "Tranquility" is also good. Not only is it a reference to the first moon landing, but "Tranquility" is also the name of EVE Online's primary server cluster. And the view from that cupola would leave a Gallente sighing with contentment, an Amarr reverently praying, and a Minmatar rejoicing in the freedom. (The Caldari would probably be too busy fretting about how much it all cost...)

Re:Well, they may call it "Tranquility"

[Anonymous Coward]

what the hell are you talking about? get out of your basement much?

Re:Well, they may call it "Tranquility"

[mwvdlee]

Okay, so "Tranquility" is out of the running.

Do we have some other names lined up that DON'T have dozens of sci-fi references linked to them?

Re:Well, they may call it "Tranquility"

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple pie.

You know what you have to do first.

Is this the Frances Ford Cupola?

[trout007]

I think it was a partnership between France and Ford. I could be wrong.

Re:Is this the Frances Ford Cupola?

[gad_zuki!]

A partnership between France and Ford, what could possibly go wrong?

The robotic arm's seal broke after just five hours of use and, wait, is that wine spilling out?

Re:Is this the Frances Ford Cupola?

[mwvdlee]

The robotic arm's seal broke after just five hours of use and, wait, is that wine spilling out?

Hydraulics, alcoholics... it's all pretty much the same thing.

Re:Is this the Frances Ford Cupola?

[Anonymous Coward]

France? I suppose they will surrender the control of this module to the German astronauts...

Designed for what?

[Shag]

Cupola has six trapezoidal windows and circular roof designed to provide a unique vantage-point for observing Earth.

I think you meant to say "designed for monitoring dockings, robotic-arm operations and spacewalks."

But I'm sure the residents of the station will be begging command to let them open the aluminum shutters that protect those windows from space junk and meteorites, since the windows coincidentally would provide a unique vantage-point for observing Earth and space, too. :)

As well as anything else that might be outside... glass elevators, vermicious knids, etc.

Re:Designed for what?

[tsotha]

Thanks for pointing that out. Based on the summary, my first reaction to the story was "I paid what to give seven guys a nice view?"

Re:Designed for what?

[Rexdude]

As well as anything else that might be outside... glass elevators, vermicious knids, etc.

For those who didn't know, that's a Roald Dahl reference, from 'Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator'

Re:Designed for what?

[Anonymous Coward]

Please mod parent (-1: must not get invited to a lot of parties.)

grammatically challenged scientists announce

[byrdfl3w]

they're gonna put a cupola new bits on the ISS..

Shed engineering

[LoudMusic]

I'm building a coffee table in my garage. NASA probably wouldn't pass my engineering for space use :(

"We want a window!"

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm reminded of that quote from "The Right Stuff" when I see this story.
Yes, let's haul exercise equipment and a window to the space station, and cancel the Aries rocket and manned space exploration.
Hooray for NASA priorities! Money well spent!

Re:"We want a window!"

[khallow]

and cancel the Aries rocket and manned space exploration.

We can always do manned space exploration with the Delta IV Heavy and Atlas V Heavy. And since NASA will be using commercial vehicles, they'll help the US develop space instead of being the usual obstacle.

Re:"We want a window!"

[LingNoi]

This is seems to be part of an agreement with the European space agency so it probably was money well spent.

Node-3 is part of the Columbus launch barter agreement with NASA under which ESA supplied two of the connecting nodes (Node-2 and -3) for the International Space Station (ISS) and additional high-technology laboratory equipment and services to NASA in return for launching Europe’s Columbus laboratory to the ISS in February 2008. Cupola is covered by a separate barter agreement in exchange of the launch and return of five ESA payloads by NASA.

Re:"We want a window!"

[Anonymous Coward]

Chill. The super heavy IS coming. Bolden is trying hard to get the ducks in a row first. It will likely be direct stage one, but it might not be. From what I hear, it WILL be private space.

Re:"We want a window!"

[khallow]

Chill. The super heavy IS coming. Bolden is trying hard to get the ducks in a row first. It will likely be direct stage one, but it might not be. From what I hear, it WILL be private space.

Would be very nice. I'd have to say though that I'm a bit reluctant to believe it. The problem is that commercial space, while it does have a lot of launch experience is starting to push into ground where nobody outside of Shuttle program really has much experience. For example, for bigger than the current breed of 20-25 ton launchers (there are three currently, Ariane 5, Proton, and Delta IV Heavy), there is no experience outside of the Shuttle, Apollo, and Energia. That means that this is new ground for the commercial sector. I hope you are right, but it'll be a big challenge.

Re:"We want a window!"

[sznupi]

Exercise equipment is essential for keeping the crew healthy; Cupola is a useful observation deck for EVA and Canadarm activities as well as basic Earth observation - that it also provides a very nice view is a good thing, if only because of possible benefits in keeping the crew functioning nicely, all around.

Speaking of hauling equipment - the view of Shuttle on the launchpad with cargo visible was really depressing; so much barely needed structure, so much waste in launched mass...

Re:"We want a window!"

[Anonymous Coward]

I did not say that it would be new space. If they do Direct, it will almost certainly be the same Shuttle players. And ALL of them have the RD, as well as manufacturing experience. The problem right now, is that Bolden is kind of back sliding on some of this. He is now saying that he still considers Ares V a possibility. Personally, I hope not. THAT would require an all new system.

There is one other option that I am sure bolden is not thinking about. SpaceX recently acquired rights to a large hylox engine (I forget which one, but it was Rocketdynes). I could see them scaling up the Falcon 9 and then replacing their engine with these. That would be a MONSTER craft. And the nice thing is that they are constantly doing one-offs. It limits the risk on each new iteration. Personally, I would love to see them announce a tug with a fuel depot. Even if they do RP1/lox, that would work for say 4-6 years. In the mean time, that would stimulate NASA to get their act together and come up with a docking standard for doing automated depot loading.

Re:"We want a window!"

[ae1294]

At least until one of the commercial vehicles explode.

Re:"We want a window!"

[khallow]

How is a commercial vehicle explosion different from a government vehicle explosion? There's a simple answer here. There is no obligation to use a commercial vehicle. If it cannot demonstrate that it can meet or maintain the safety standards that NASA needs (I'm not talking of the bogus safety standards and estimates designed to exclude commercial vehicles like are present in the Exploration Space Architecture Study which rationalized use of the Ares I), then they can be dropped. If a NASA program like the Shuttle or Ares I cannot meet the safety standards, then NASA does a bit of safety theater and keeps using the vehicle. There is an obligation to use a NASA vehicle.

Re:"We want a window!"

[ae1294]

Ugh... My point was that space travel is dangerous. What do you think will happen when a private companies space craft explodes? If it is anything like what happened when the space shuttle exploded then said company will be out of business...

Re:"We want a window!"

[khallow]

Ugh... My point was that space travel is dangerous. What do you think will happen when a private companies space craft explodes? If it is anything like what happened when the space shuttle exploded then said company will be out of business...

There are a couple of things to remember here. First, it won't be like the Space Shuttle. Even if a manned launch fails and kills astronauts, the business can still continue to launch unmanned missions. That doesn't work for every vehicle, but most vehicles can lift unmanned payloads (some already do). This provides a way to test fixes on the vehicle without risking astronaut lives, both lowering the cost of testing and speeding up necessary fixes. The Shuttle was unusual in that it required people on each flight so there was a lot of soul searching prior to a launch after an accident. Second, while a commercial launcher won't have the deep pockets of NASA, they probably will be immune to a number of legal liabilities.

Re:"We want a window!"

[ae1294]

That's an interesting point and you are right to a certain degree. I just wonder about the venture capital and stock prices dropping for these private companies. I guess we will see how the market reacts when there is a major accident. I personally hope people don't freak out but I'm not so sure that they won't. I'd love to take a trip to LEO sometime regardless of the risk but that will never happen until the price is driven down by the free market.

Re:"We want a window!"

[carn1fex]

Lolz, yea they really should have pulled out a cutting torch and cut out the middle third of the shuttle. :)

Imagine the view

[kerskine]

What I would give to spend 8 hours in that cupola

Re:Imagine the view

[Hurricane78]

What I would give, to spend 8 hours with (first) a really great meal and (then) a naked and willing $favoriteHotGirl in that Cupola.

And how I wish that I would have the skill to make HER want to give (whatever she would give) to do this with me. :D

Re:Imagine the view

[Anonymous Coward]

Easy... her price for the experience would be spending it with you.

Cool

[FleaPlus]

Sure, the international cooperation on the ISS was done pretty suboptimally (e.g. over-reliance on the delay-prone and costly Space Shuttle), but there's still something really inspirational about a European-built observatory module being launched on an American rocket, so that astronauts can (among other things) effectively control a Canada-built robotic construction arm, powered by US and Russian solar panels. Also, the robotic Canadarm and Cupola will be used to install the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer in a few months, one of the space station's most promising scientific instruments.

Some more info on the Cupola over at wiki (of course): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupola_(ISS)

Re:Cool

[nicknamenotavailable]

American components, Russian components... all made in Taiwan!

Lev Andropov.

Re:Cool

[WindBourne]

Personally, I am in hopes that we will restore the CAM. AMS could have occurred on the planet, but ISS is also nice. BUT, CAM can ONLY happen in micro grav. That is the one thing that ISS can really deliver; tell us how we will do in space, on the moon, or on mars. But, W killed it. Hopefully, Bolden has enough brains to make that a top priority once he has sorted through the coming nightmare over the budget.

Re:Cool

[khallow]

CAM requires lower gravity than the minimum range it is to test, it doesn't require the microgravity environment present on the ISS. For example, you could test Mars level gravity on the Moon or Mars and lunar level gravity on Ceres even though both places have significant gravity acceleration four or more orders of magnitude greater than a microgravity environment.

Re:Cool

[FleaPlus]

I suspect you probably already know about this, but it looks like CAM is one of the things the newly-announced initiative for NASA is looking to bring back:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/factsheet_department_nasa/

$183 million to extend operations of the ISS past its previously planned retirement date of 2016. NASA will deploy new research facilities to conduct scientific research and test technologies in space. New capabilities could include a centrifuge to support research into human physiology, inflatable space habitats, and a program to continuously upgrade Space Station capabilities.

Re:Cool

[WindBourne]

I missed that. THANK YOU!!!!!! That is damn good news. We really need to know how the body will react on these various gravities. Likewise, it would be nice to know if there is a minimal amount of gravity that will keep the body from the degradation. Maybe something as simple as 1/10G would cut it, which would make it pretty damn simple to design that in a Mars bound craft.

Re:Cool

[WindBourne]

The real question is not just how we will do on these planets, but what is the minimum to keep us from having longterm damage. As I wrote to fleaplus, it is possible that 1/10 G (less than mars or moon, but more than ceres) would be enough to keep our bones and muscles in OK shape. If so, then a craft is easy to design. In the end, it does not matter. Far far cheaper to put a CAM on the ISS, than the other locations.

Re:Cool

[khallow]

Far far cheaper to put a CAM on the ISS, than the other locations.

I agree. I was just saying the microgravity environment isn't needed unless you are doing experiments with very low gravity, say one or two orders of magnitude above the microgravity environment.\

www.esa.int

[hey]

I like the use of the .int top-level-domain.

Re:www.esa.int

[Anonymous Coward]

Quick! Somebody snatch short.int, long.int, and long.long.int.

Re:www.esa.int

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a shame they're only avaiable for intergovernmental organizations. Really :-( .

Re:www.esa.int

[mwvdlee]

So? Get the governments of some of those miniscule island states to create intergovernmental organizations for you; the domain name is free!

Re:www.esa.int

[Trapezium Artist]

I completely agree with you, it's very cool in a Joe-90, Thunderbirds kind of way. Then again, what else could we use for an international organisation with 18 member states? .org possibly, but it's a bit bland.

(Yes, I work for ESA and very much like my @esa.int mail address :-)

Re:www.esa.int

[TooMuchToDo]

Want to trade an esa.int mail account for a .gov one? =) I kid, I kid

/works on the LHC out of the US

Tank turret

[rossdee]

I thought that the cupola was the commanders turret on top of a tank, usually mounting a heavy machine gun.

Re:Tank turret

[Sulphur]

I thought that the cupola was the commanders turret on top of a tank, usually mounting a heavy machine gun.

It is.

Dig foxholes. Duck and cover.

Is this your leader?

Re:Tank turret

[MakinBacon]

What else do you expect us to use to fend off the inevitable alien invasion?

Re:Tank turret

[ArsonSmith]

We'll confuse them by cutting the corners off all our paper and books.

Love it

[Anonymous Coward]

Great place to take a date on Valentine's Day. Way better than the usual accommodations those of us in the Mile High Club are used to....

Launch Cancelled.

[Anonymous Coward]

"No-go" for Endeavour's Launch
Sun, 07 Feb 2010 04:30:56 AM EST

Space shuttle Endeavour's launch attempt has been scrubbed due to a low cloud ceiling over Kennedy Space Center.

Managers initially plan for a 24-hour turnaround, but will evaluate tomorrow's weather before making a final decision. Next possible launch attempt is Monday, Feb. 8 at 4:14 a.m. EST.

Launch scrubbed!

[Anonymous Coward]

The launch has been scrubbed due to less-than-optimal weather.
Damn, I was really looking forward to watching the launch. I hope they'll launch tomorrow, otherwise i probably won't be able to watch it...
Goddamnit Obama! Nuke the friggin' clouds from high orbit!

Re:Launch scrubbed!

[abuelos84]

Hahaha, that's got to be the best anti-obama statement i've read in a long time, classy as hell! roflmaololalo

"Video animation" ?

[rpetre]

Maybe it's because I'm not a native English speaker, but this sounds very much like redundancy (I think the correct grammatical term is "tautology"), probably induced by some so-called SEO expert: "screw common sense, just toss in the keyword 'video' as much as possible".

Re:"Video animation" ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, I agree. They should have printed the animation in a flip book and handed that out to everyone interested in this space module.

too bad only four US astronauts a year will use it

[peter303]

At its maximum capacity the Soyuz could supply 18 astronauts a year to the space station via six annual launches. But Soyuz has never operated at that high capacity. Four launches would be considered more likely. The US quota is 2 of the 6 ISS astronauts, Russia another two, and the remaining two more for Japan, ESA, and Canada. More likely there will be 4-5 at a time and four launched, hence the four US astronaut estimate. Contrast this to the 25-30 in recent years to build the ISS.

Re:too bad only four US astronauts a year will use

[WindBourne]

I was under impression that we already paid them to bring up the number of launches. In particular, I thought that we paid them several years ago to keep the levels up for several years.

Tie-Fighter?

[Anonymous Coward]

Is it me or the view from the cupola with the shutters opened looks A LOT like the view from a Tie-Fighters cockpit??
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cupola_ISS_open_shutters_middle_crop.jpg (wikipedia picture)