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NASA Expands Role of International Space Station
coondoggie writes "NASA is looking for a few good experiments to run in space. The space agency this week said it was seeking research ideas (PDF) from private entities who want to do research on board the International Space Station. NASA said it was looking to expand the use of the ISS by providing access to the lab for the conduct of basic and applied research, technology development, and industrial processing to private entities — including commercial firms, non-profit institutions, and academic institutions. NASA said using the ISS as a national lab could help develop a number of applications in areas such as biotechnology, energy, engineering, and remote sensing."
It worked for me when I was renting out a room.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Come on, we all want to know how sex in space works. Its probably the simplest experiment that would generate tons of interest.
I say we send one up there and plug it in and point a webcam at it.
If you didn't come to party don't bother knocking on my door. Prince '1999'
NASA emphasizes the utter uselessness of the ISS by asking people what interesting things can be done with it.
Yes, and the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is useless as demonstrated by NASA asking people what interesting things could be photographed with it. Manned stations, robotic probes, equally useless!
P.S. I agree, more robotic probes. But seriously, sending out a call for researchers to propose experiments is not an indication of uselessness.
The enemies of Democracy are
What kind of work is useful to experiment on in microgravity?
Don't know how useful it is, but Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki has demonstrated that soap bubbles retain their color in space, answering a scientific question from her daughter.
Again, how useful this is will depend on the person.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Sadly since I pissed off 1 to many NASA engineers in the past (blah blah Crusader project by UDLP, blah blah trying making some money... blah blah blah remote mining and processing project... sub orbital meteor mining is a stupid idea...)
Anyway they'll no likely to talk to me (ever again) so here are my suggestions. Please feel free to run with them:
1: Sex (Duh. We all want to know.)
2: Artifical ring construction via centrifical force =
Take a spinning sphere and launch a tethered satellite while still spinning. from the teathered satellite launch another teather out such that the secondary teather is long enough to have the circumfrence of the satellite's oribital circumfurance. See if you can get it to hook up back to the original satellite to create an artifical ring on which we can construct stuff. (may required 2 satellites at opposite sides.
3: Behavior of molten metal in low gravity for crystal structure analysis (see if effect is more brittle or harded.)
4: Better estimate of open space survival time of a human being.
5: Field test atmosphering re-entry capable space suit for orbital deployment of troops (GETA LL WARHAMMA 40K ON YA!)
6: Polymer extrusion and blown film line test in low gravity for polymer chain linkage testing.
7: Smoking in the cargo bay in low-G (Can you blow smoke rings in low-g)
8: Will a paper airplain with a weight of less then .5 lbs survive re-entry to Earth?
9: Subspace structural testing to see if spacial structure exists (e.g. test if space itself has an actual shape, e.g. a quantum of space itself (rather then an infinitly divisible continum))
10: Test if the bullshit in DC is so thick you can really smell it on the ISS.
Just a few...
-=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
I'll bet the use of your taxes to pay for public libraries really pisses you off too! You just sit there drinking your tang, typing on your computer and watching your satellite TV, bitching about all the money wasted on the space program...
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
I do not need my government to give me stuff. By the pursuit of happiness, I mean of course things like keeping monopolies from abusing their positions and encouraging real competition in the market place. So I can get rich if I really work at it.
Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
Sorry, you said that asking for suggestions on research to be done just emphasizes its uselessness. That's not a strawman, that's what you said. It's not my fault that same logic applies equally to things you like such as MRO or Hubble.
Let's not assume that manned and unmanned missions can do the same thing, because they can't. Manned missions can't visit Saturn or Mars yet for that matter. And there are plenty of experiments that are much more easily performed with human supervision than without, and with pre-existing infrastructure than without. ISS is already up there, and contains space-shuttle-payload size bays designed exclusively for research. It isn't useless, the space agencies involved are already performing experiments on it. Expanding the number of experiments done is expanding its usefulness, not admitting it isn't useful at all as you claimed.
Again, we're in agreement that robotic probes are cheaper and better for exploring the solar system and beyond. I disagree with your stance that the ISS is useless. And your statement that asking for research to be conducted on it demonstrates this uselessness is factually and logically wrong.
The enemies of Democracy are
Oh come on a LOT better idea list.....
1 - how long do lawyers last in space without a space suit.
2 - effects on lawyers when exposed to explosive decompression.
3 - effects of solar radiation on a lawyer in a space suit.
4 - effects of solar radation on a lawyer without a space suit.
5 - effects of amoebic dysentery on a lawyer in micro-gravity.
6 - how long do lawyers last as an ablative shield during re-entry.
7 - what is the maximum ballistic speed a lawyer can reach.
etc...
Oh and as a control do the same experiments on MPAA and RIAA executives.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Nobody is saying that it will be cheap or even easy in the remotely near future. But is that really a valid reason to not even make the attempt? You have to start somewhere, and it will NEVER be cheap/routine if we as a society don't start working toward that goal. Along the way, we can use the technological advances derived from such exploration to (hopefully) better life for those here on Earth. Even something unrelated to ship construction or propulsion systems (such as a self-sustaining food/oxygen supply) could be scaled up to benefit people in the more remote regions of the world.
"So after all this, you make my case for me. To end this stalemate, you must die..."