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Posts Tagged “

International Space Station

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space

Unmanned Japanese Cargo Spacecraft Could Be NASA's Next Space Shuttle

With the dinosaur Space Shuttle set to retire in 2010, and Orion due to be finished (optimistically) by 2015, NASA may purchase the $131 million unmanned HTV cargo vehicle from JAXA, Japan's space agency, to guarantee fresh shipments of space-Doritos flowing up to the brave souls on the International Space Sation. While they had initially planned to fill this gap by relying on commercial space cargo flights by companies like SpaceX, Reuters is reporting that delays in the private-sector space companies have caused NASA to look elsewhere to avoid being crippled by the Shuttle's retirement. UPDATE: NASA issued a statement this afternoon saying the Reuters' report was full of baloney. They're still dedicated to finding commercial haulers—full release below. More »

1:00 PM on Mon Jul 21 2008
By John Mahoney
2,595 views, 19 comments

Latest by tdeckard2000: @Chromeo is typing this on his iPhone 3G: I saw the pic an i thought the exact same thing. In fact i clicked on the link jus to see if anyone else was thinking it. .. cool more »

iss

Habemos John! Astronauts Can Boldly Go Again, As ISS Toilet is Fixed

Spaceboys who have been crossing their legs in sympathy with the can-less astronauts on the Space Station can relax. Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko fixed the toilet after the Discovery space shuttle delivered a new pump to the ISS on Monday. The outer-space loo had been broken for two weeks, and the three-man team had been taking it in turns to swill it out manually with water. "Let's start using it," said Russian mission control to Kononenko, adding hopefully, "we'll keep our fingers crossed." In other space news, a billion-dollar Japanese science lab was opened on the ISS. Called Kibo, or hope, the 37-foot long lab is one of the largest rooms on the ISS, but will not be up and running until its porch arrives next year. [CNN]

6:00 AM on Thu Jun 5 2008
By AddyDugdale
1,098 views, 16 comments

Latest by unspellable: @AddyDugdale: Entonces: 'tenemos catolica', 'tenemos italiana', o 'tenemos papa-cita'. more »

space

NASA Toilet Might Force Emergency Evacuation

The International Space Station's toilet is still broken, people. And all of our toilet humor isn't doing anything to fix what could be a potentially extremely hazardous situation. And as Russian ISS chief Vladimir Solovyov explained, it could lead to a complete evacuation. More »

4:40 PM on Tue Jun 3 2008
By Mark Wilson
12,417 views, 88 comments

let down

Buzz Lightyear Goes to Infinity and... the International Space Station?

Buzz Lightyear is now part of the International Space Station crew, after astronauts from mission STS-124 boarded the orbital outpost yesterday at 3:36PM EDT—bringing in the 12-inch to guard us against Emperor Zurg, who has been secretly building a weapon with the destructive capacity to annihilate an entire planet. Or maybe just teach kids about math and science. I can go either way, death rays or deathly equations. More »

6:16 AM on Tue Jun 3 2008
By Jesus Diaz
2,204 views, 13 comments

Latest by n/a: (Cue imitation Tim Allen voice) "It's free-falling, with style!" At least I think that's what they call the floating sensation up there. I'm just annoyed I haven't heard one story of an astronaut bringing an amusing carry-on, like this, but more »

boomerang

Video of Space Boomerang Is Exactly What You Expect

We knew that boomerangs work in space because Takao Doi tried one in the International Space Station last month. Now, thanks to JAXA's obsession with cameras we have proof on video. The usual skeptics who think that Elvis is really the only human that ever went to the moon—and still lives there—will be happy. [JAXA via Pink Tentacle]

8:06 AM on Thu May 1 2008
By Jesus Diaz
8,236 views, 46 comments

Latest by TurboFool: @ArielWollinger: Thank you, I came here to comment about that. Someone who believes Elvis is still alive, or that the moon landing didn't happen, isn't a skeptic, they're a paranoid, conspiracy-theorist, moron. There's a pretty damn big difference. Skeptics take more »

jules verne

Space Truck Executes "Text-Book" Automated Docking at International Space Station

At 10.45 EST this morning, the Jules Verne docked at the International Space Station, with a 7,500-pound cargo containing equipment, supplies, water, food and gases—and no human driver. The AI-assisted landing of the European space truck after a 26-day journey was described as "text-book" and here it is, courtesy of NASA TV. While the Jules-ISS hook-up is not the first unmanned docking, anything with an automated system that can track down an object that is moving at 16,777 miles per hour and attach itself with just a 2-centimeter leeway, is pretty damn awesome in Giz's book. [NASA]

11:23 AM on Thu Apr 3 2008
By AddyDugdale
13,352 views, 57 comments

Latest by ntrgc89: @blanco164: I don't know about before the progress, but yes, the Soviet Union was first to develop automated resupply (as far as I know). I'm not sure why the ATV is suddenly such a big deal because it "docks automatically," more »

robots

NASA Sending Robots into Space to do Astronauts' Dirty Work

NASA is sending a $200 million, Canadian-built robot named Dextre (Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator) up to the International Space Station to help carryout spacewalk missions too dangerous for humans to attempt. The currently disassembled robot is being flown up on the Space Shuttle Endeavour and will be built up on the Space Station. Once constructed, Dextre will be 10 feet high, 5 feet wide and have two arms comprised of seven joints apiece. [ABC News]

3:18 PM on Fri Mar 14 2008
By Adrian Covert
3,993 views, 33 comments

space

ESA's Autonomous Space Truck Blasts Off Tomorrow

The European Space Agency is launching the first Automated Transfer Vehicle tomorrow in French Guyana. Though it looks like a satellite, the ATV, christened Jules Verne, is really an unmanned cargo-hauling robot capable of carting 7.6 tons of supplies and other astro-crap up from Earth, and even tow the International Space Station itself to a higher orbit. And it'll do a lot of this stuff with no guidance from the carbon units:
More »

3:00 PM on Sat Mar 8 2008
By Wilson Rothman
4,251 views, 20 comments

potent potables

NASA Drops $19 Million on Toilet, Doesn't Let Russians Use It

Tension is bound to flare over the $19 million toilet NASA purchased from Russian aerospace firm RCS Energia, as only half of the International Space Station will enjoy the upgrade—the American side. The toilet justifies its steep price by being able to recycle urine as drinkable water, Waterworld-style. More »

10:45 AM on Fri Jul 6 2007
By kevinhall2
11,509 views, 20 comments

Latest by WyomingJack: The year is 1979. A bachelor party. Our host worked for Lockheed and brought out an 8mm film. Not donkeys, not strippers. not Mexican porn. It was a ten minute film of NASA testing toilets in zero G aboard the more »

pcs

Gates in Space?

Now that Microsoft rich dude Charles Simonyi has blasted off to the International Space Station, some people are (wildly) speculating that Bill Gates will strap in. No word yet from the chairman himself—maybe he's just waiting until the Vista-powered mission control systems are bug-free.–Wilson Rothman More »

9:50 AM on Wed Apr 11 2007
By www.gizmodo.com
1,780 views, 17 comments