Soyuz TMA-M ballistic return possible
The return of a crew from ISS on Wednesday via a new upgraded Soyuz capsule might have problems.
Tag: engineering
A detailed explanation of what has happened at the Fukushima nuclear power plant
Check out this detailed engineering explanation of what has happened, is happening, and will happen at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. Key quote:
The point is that the nuclear fuel has now been cooled down. Because the chain reaction has been stopped a long time ago, there is only very little residual heat being produced now. The large amount of cooling water that has been used is sufficient to take up that heat. Because it is a lot of water, the core does not produce sufficient heat any more to produce any significant pressure. Also, boric acid has been added to the seawater. Boric acid is “liquid control rod”. Whatever decay is still going on, the Boron will capture the neutrons and further speed up the cooling down of the core.
Sergei Korolev: the rocket genius behind Yuri Gagarin
Sergei Korolev: the rocket genius behind Yuri Gagarin.
Second nuclear meltdown likely under way in Japan, official says
More bad news: According to Japanese officials, a second nuclear meltdown is likely under way.
Nuclear Meltdown at Quake-Damaged Japanese Plant
This ain’t good: A nuclear meltdown appears to have occurred at the quake-damaged Japanese power plant.
Japan to fill leaking nuke reactor with sea water
Japan to fill leaking nuke reactor with sea water.
Japan’s Third Disaster
Japanese quake disrupts space station operations
The 8.9 earthquake has shut down the Japanese space station mission control center, forcing NASA to take over monitoring Japanese ISS modules.
Fixing the Webb telescope
NASA has concluded that it will cost an additional $30 million to fix the degradation problem on the James Webb Space Telescope’s scientific instruments.
The table saw that cannot cut fingers
An evening pause: The table saw that cannot cut fingers.
Virgin Galactic surpasses $10 million in ticket sales
Virgin Galactic surpassed $10 million in space tourism sales in 2010.
Space Duct Tape Could Confuse Mars Rover
The kapton tape used on the next Mars rover, Curiosity, releases enough methane of its own that it could mess up the rover’s other science.
Putting ISS to use
Putting ISS to use. Key quote:
Under consideration is using the entire station and its six-person crew as an analog for a deep-space human exploration vehicle en route to Mars. An internal team is studying the feasibility and value of such an exercise in the summer of 2012. “We might start with a small window, like a 30-day window, with actual time delays with what we’d expect with a Martian communications system,” Gerstenmaier says. “We may freeze our consumables on station, in the sense of saying that we’ve started our voyage to Mars, and see how well we do in our predictions.”
Russian Satellite Nearly Collided with Korean Weather Satellite
A Russian military satellite nearly collided with a Korean weather satellite earlier this week.
Maiden flight of the space shuttle Discovery
An evening pause:I had played this video as an evening pause back in November, when I thought the last mission of the space shuttle Discovery would be launched. Now that it has finally landed, completing its final mission, I think worthwhile to once again go back in time and watch a film of the shuttle’s maiden flight, launched August 30, 1984, narrated by the astronauts themselves. Note that the female astronaut on this flight is Judith Resnik, who died a little over a year and a half later in the Challenger accident.
The secret world of doomsday shelters
Got a few hundred thousand you can spare? Why not build a doomsday bomb shelter?
Discovery has landed, for the last time
Discovery has landed safely, for the last time.
148,221,665 Things to Know About Space Shuttle Discovery
How to make Hot Ice
An evening pause:
More evidence Penn State’s investigation of Mann was a whitewash
More evidence that Penn State’s investigation of IPCC climate researcher Michael Mann was a whitewash.
The key point is that the Penn State investigators never interviewed a principal who was able to confirm or deny a key charge against “Hockey Stick” lead author of “Hide the Decline” infamy Michael Mann. This individual has now been interviewed, and what he told federal investigators has indicted Mann and Penn State.
I have noted this already, the very week the Penn State report was issued, but it is nice to see there is further evidence to confirm my conclusions.