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International Space Station (ISS)
Guest_Richard Trigaux_*
post Jun 1 2006, 02:48 PM
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QUOTE (ljk4-1 @ Jun 1 2006, 02:18 PM) *
NASA Science News for June 1, 2006

A little droid is roaming the corridors of the International Space Station, and more are on the way.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/01....htm?list161084


This story is a bit funny, to have a mini-satellite floating free in the ISS and wandering into the corridors following air movements. That treminds me of an experience I did, taking a small helium baloon (in the shape of a dolphin, bought in a fair) and add it some weight so that it floated without falling nor rising, and let it float freely into my home. It was a bit amazing to see how it managed to travel everywhere, and go from a room to another despites the narrower doors. Wherever it remained stuck, it was free some hours later. But most usually its favourite occupation was to rise above a radiator, scrape the cieling, and descend on the other side of the room, following convection patterns. The ISS people will have some fun with them.
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lyford
post Jun 1 2006, 07:38 PM
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Hmmm. "Her resistance to the mind probe is considerable."



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ljk4-1
post Jun 1 2006, 09:17 PM
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QUOTE (lyford @ Jun 1 2006, 03:38 PM) *
Hmmm. "Her resistance to the mind probe is considerable."



The actual model for the ISS robot from Star Wars was that light saber
practice ball Luke used aboard the Millennium Falcon.

It was originally supposed to be a police drone seen floating around
Tatooine designed to target and zap criminals and other undesirables
of the Empire.

The robot was also an early model for the Death Star, if memory serves.


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"After having some business dealings with men, I am occasionally chagrined,
and feel as if I had done some wrong, and it is hard to forget the ugly circumstance.
I see that such intercourse long continued would make one thoroughly prosaic, hard,
and coarse. But the longest intercourse with Nature, though in her rudest moods, does
not thus harden and make coarse. A hard, sensible man whom we liken to a rock is
indeed much harder than a rock. From hard, coarse, insensible men with whom I have
no sympathy, I go to commune with the rocks, whose hearts are comparatively soft."

- Henry David Thoreau, November 15, 1853

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ustrax
post Jun 13 2006, 09:31 AM
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I'm going to take a look... smile.gif

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMA64AATME_index_0.html


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Jeff7
post Jun 13 2006, 01:10 PM
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QUOTE (ljk4-1 @ Jun 1 2006, 10:18 AM) *
NASA Science News for June 1, 2006

A little droid is roaming the corridors of the International Space Station, and more are on the way.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/01....htm?list161084


From the article:
"If a solar flare zaps one satellite—no problem."
So they want to launch more satellites, that are disposable to a degree. I just wonder how long until lower Earth Orbit will resemble a giant floating landfill, too dangerous for most spacecraft to safely navigate for prolonged periods.
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ustrax
post Sep 21 2006, 02:59 PM
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You beautiful tiny one...:

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMRHL8LURE_FeatureWeek_0.html

smile.gif


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MahFL
post Sep 22 2006, 10:39 AM
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I just saw the ISS and it does indeed look brighter after the addition of the 2nd set of Solar Arrays.
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ljk4-1
post Sep 22 2006, 11:30 AM
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I wonder if the ISS will be like the Iridium satellites, making spectacular flashes
when sunlight hits the solar panels just right?

http://www.satobs.org/iridium.html


--------------------
"After having some business dealings with men, I am occasionally chagrined,
and feel as if I had done some wrong, and it is hard to forget the ugly circumstance.
I see that such intercourse long continued would make one thoroughly prosaic, hard,
and coarse. But the longest intercourse with Nature, though in her rudest moods, does
not thus harden and make coarse. A hard, sensible man whom we liken to a rock is
indeed much harder than a rock. From hard, coarse, insensible men with whom I have
no sympathy, I go to commune with the rocks, whose hearts are comparatively soft."

- Henry David Thoreau, November 15, 1853

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remcook
post Sep 22 2006, 11:32 AM
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looks from that website it's not the solar panels that flash. Solar panels will be at right angles to the sun if possible.
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djellison
post Sep 22 2006, 11:42 AM
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Solar Panels will always be oriented as best they can toward the sun. Iridium sats are a special case - they have a set of large aluminium antennae that are at an angle that reflects light onto the ground just right to create the flares.

http://www.obsat.com/irimage_e.html


of course, there's always still scope for the odd flash or flicks if the angle between a part of the station and the sun is right- but I don't think we'll ever see things like the flares occuring.

Of course - if it gets to mag -3 or lower - then we're talking brighter than 50% of Iridium flares anyway smile.gif

Doug
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ugordan
post Sep 22 2006, 01:03 PM
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QUOTE (djellison @ Sep 22 2006, 12:42 PM) *
Of course - if it gets to mag -3 or lower - then we're talking brighter than 50% of Iridium flares anyway smile.gif

That reminds me of one night a while ago, I was watching TV in a dark room and suddenly a bright flash out the window in the corner of my eye caugh my attention. It lasted for maybe a second or two, but was really bright. I immediately felt it had to either be an almost stationary meteor (it was a slow mover) or an Iridium flare, so one check at www.heavens-above.com and there it was: -8 magnitude, predicted right at the time I saw it.
The thing still remains the brightest flare I saw. If only I was looking directly at it!


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Guest_PhilCo126_*
post Sep 23 2006, 07:32 AM
Post #27





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Current position of the ISS:
http://www.heavens-above.com/
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RNeuhaus
post Sep 23 2006, 02:18 PM
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QUOTE (ljk4-1 @ Sep 22 2006, 06:30 AM) *
I wonder if the ISS will be like the Iridium satellites, making spectacular flashes
when sunlight hits the solar panels just right?

http://www.satobs.org/iridium.html

Yes, now the ISS is brighter equaling to Venus' ones with the maximum albedo of -3.0 at the proper angle against the sun.

Rodolfo
P.D.Opps, I saw others comment the same about the ISS's abedo as me!
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David
post Sep 23 2006, 02:47 PM
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QUOTE (ugordan @ Sep 22 2006, 01:03 PM) *
That reminds me of one night a while ago, I was watching TV in a dark room and suddenly a bright flash out the window in the corner of my eye caugh my attention. It lasted for maybe a second or two, but was really bright. I immediately felt it had to either be an almost stationary meteor (it was a slow mover) or an Iridium flare, so one check at www.heavens-above.com and there it was: -8 magnitude, predicted right at the time I saw it.
The thing still remains the brightest flare I saw. If only I was looking directly at it!


Back in the old days (say the 1920s-1950s) when engineers were still full of technological hubris (I'm not saying they aren't still, but people are more cynical about that sort of thing now), there were suggestions to orient mirrors in Earth orbit to catch the sunlight and create "permanent daylight" on the nightside.

That's both undesirable and probably impractical, but the phenomenon you describe suggests that, with a degree of control, it might be possible to intentionally illuminate small areas on the Earth's surface for short periods of time, which could be useful in certain instances.
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jamescanvin
post Sep 23 2006, 11:44 PM
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The russians actually tried this back in 1998, but the mirrior failed to deploy.



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