Posts Tagged ‘ISS’

Zero Gravity Tour of the International Space Station

Written by Michael Awada on . Posted in Science, Technology

tour-the-iss

“I haven’t sat down for six months now.” -Sunita Williams

Ever wondered what it would be like to float around on the International Space Station?

Commander Suni Williams gives us that very chance, taking us on a personal, in-depth tour of the ISS. We get to feast our eyes on where people snooze, how they pump iron, how they maneuver about the giant craft, what types of Bill Nye inspired science experiments are conducted and even how they use the bathroom. The video was recorded this week, twelve hours before Ms. Williams headed back to Earth, which probably explains why she’s in such a good mood.

International Space Station Narrowly Escapes Disaster

Written by Michael Awada on . Posted in Science, Technology

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Crew members aboard the ISS scrambled into an emergency exit craft as stray debris from a forgotten Russian satellite surprised NASA. The debris was only noticed on Friday, which evidently did not give the monitoring team enough time to create a sizable distance between the ISS and the scrap. NASA couldn’t even determine the exact size of the debris, although any small amount can jeopardize the entire craft.

Astounde covered the story of the incredible threat posed by space junk in this article in mid-February. Swiss scientists are currently designing a project called Clean Space One to help alleviate this problem. The article is a fascinating read if you hadn’t heard of it yet. Hopefully the hard working scientists can get Clean Space One implemented soon, as the lives of the six crew members onboard are too valuable to be left to chance.