Slashdot Mirror
Video Tour of the International Space Station
SternisheFan writes with an excerpt from Bad Astronomer Phil Plait, writing at Slate: "Before she came back to Earth in a ball of fire surrounding her Russian re-entry capsule, astronaut Sunita Williams took time out of her packing for the trip home to give a nickel tour of the International Space Station. ... I know the video's long, but if you have the time I do suggest watching the whole thing. I have very mixed feelings about the space station; it cost a lot of money, and in my opinion it hasn't lived up to the scientific potential NASA promised when it was being designed. But watching this video reminded me of the good that's come out of it: There is science being done there; we're learning how to design and build hardware for long-term space travel; we're learning just how to live in space (and NASA just announced it will be sending humans into space for an entire year, an unprecedented experiment); and we're finding new ways for nations and individuals to cooperate in space."
unprecedented /npresdntid/
Adjective
Only been done 4 times before
Research is rarely profitable. Most of our knowledge of how to do it right comes from testing out all possible ways of doing it wrong. So when you point and say "Well, this particular project didn't pan out" as a reason not to undertake any future projects, you're misrepresenting the facts. It's true, most research fails. But the research that succeeds more than makes up for the costs of all that other research before it. Every technology within your range of vision right now was developed through a iterative process of failure.
And yet, here we are, and I am thankful that, unlike the editor and submitter, I can see the big picture. The space program has contributed way more in commercial developments than it has cost us. Way, way, massively way more. And that's in spite of its bureaucratic failures (of which many have written small books on -- see Appendix D of the Challenger Disaster report for one such example). Research is essential. If you want to argue about the cost of the space program, pick something else -- there are juicier targets than that.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
IMAX (!) video from inside the Russian Mir space station. Dark, cramped and most likely very smelly - still an incredible achievement. International Space Station? Some kind of progress!
Tedious Bloggy Stuff - hooray?
What about adding a module that spins - to simulate gravity.
But i guess it has to be carefully balanced to avoid wobbling. Maybe this can be compensated somehow with liquids?
Those of us old enough to remember times before the space station will recall that scientists at the time felt that the space station would be a waste. They felt that more important and useful science could be accomplished by spending the money in other areas of space research.
Furthermore, when various sources of research are ranked by "return on investment", government research always lands on the bottom of the list. Government-funded research is always more expensive and less controversial than research from the private sector. (One reason why research competitions are effective.)
People here may recall those times when, a decade-or-so ago, NASA was euphemistically called "No Access to Space for Anyone" because they stood four-square against anyone from the private sector making any attempts at space launch.
The big picture is good, and the space station has rewarded us with many new research results, but I have to wonder whether those $150 billion would have been better spent as prize money for private-research breakthroughs.
Seriously how can you face coming back to earth and NOT having hair like that!
I really like Phil Plait but he consistently misses one of the major points of ISS was building and operating a working spacecraft in space. That knowledge in and of itself will prove invaluable for longer term missions where resupply and spare parts will be impossible to provide.
That attitude seems to be all too common among scientists: the constantly overlook engineering and take it for granted.
And those fluorescent lights are going to get replaced soon. I read that they think the current lighting may be the cause for the ISS residents having insomnia problems.
...personally I prefer this one as it shows on a map where in the station you are, an hour' s tour as well!!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afBm0Dpfj_k
if (!signature) { throw std::runtime_error("No sig!"); }