Posted on 04/18/2016 1:11:17 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: The International Space Station is the largest object ever constructed by humans in space. The station perimeter extends over roughly the area of a football field, although only a small fraction of this is composed of modules habitable by humans. The station is so large that it could not be launched all at once -- it continues to be built piecemeal. To function, the ISS needs huge trusses, some over 15 meters long and with masses over 10,000 kilograms, to keep it rigid and to route electricity and liquid coolants. Pictured above, the immense space station was photographed from the now-retired space shuttle Atlantis after a week-long stay in 2010. Across the image top hangs part of a bright blue Earth, in stark contrast to the darkness of interstellar space across the bottom.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Image Credit: STS-132 Crew, Expedition 23 Crew, NASA]
The most recent SpaceX launch delivered the Bigelow inflatable space habitat module to the ISS. The primary and crewless booster on that mission also successfully returned from suborbital flight and landed on the purpose-built barge. SpaceX competitor ULA has been launching classified payloads for years now, and that contract probably will next go to the lower-cost SpaceX, which will be reusing the smaller boosters it currently uses, while it introduces its Heavy version, and moves that into operational status. The present estimate on that is November of this year. The old STS launch pad, which is also the site used for Apollo launches, has received a long-delayed bit of work to remove the remaining large and obsolete chunks of the STS launch apparatus.
Costs of space trips could be as low as an Antarctica holiday (news search)
http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=dAaxyi7mm9dc_1M69GSjf1A_eF5fM&authuser=0&ned=us
[snip] It will be attached to the space station this Saturday, but won’t be inflated until the end of May. [/snip]
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3532422/SpaceX-delivers-worlds-1st-inflatable-room-astronauts.html
SpaceX, That Vision Thing, and Mars
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/life-unbounded/spacex-that-vision-thing-and-mars/
Thanks!
“Costs of space trips could be as low as an Antarctica holiday (news search)”
Hmm, there’s still more to do in Antarctica though... in space you’ll just be stuck in a tin can looking out the window for a few days. There is zero-G sex, though, I guess that might be worth the price of admission just to attempt, but I think it will be less fun than it sounds :)
As a lifelong resident of the Snow Belt, Antarctica can just kiss it. ;’)
That background is beautiful and breathtaking. The glory of God’s creation!
What a wang — nothing about the Bigelow module, just the landing, which SpaceX had already accomplished, albiet on a fixed target.
President Obama congratulates SpaceX on rocket landing
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2016/0411/President-Obama-congratulates-SpaceX-on-rocket-landing
Oooh, ping to all lists — photographers and collectors take note:
The First Telephoto Lens Used On the Moon Is Up for Auction
By Robert Z. Pearlman, collectSPACE.com Editor
April 18, 2016
http://www.space.com/32603-first-telephoto-lens-on-moon-auction.html
This is hilarious — Russia would not have been able to pull this off, with or without Bezos’ $200 million, and the incremental checks would have cleared over a period of years before he got tired of their runaround.
Blue Origin’s Jeff Bezos Turned Down a $200 Million Trip Around the Moon
By Calla Cofield, Space.com Staff Writer | April 14, 2016
http://www.space.com/32576-jeff-bezos-skipped-moon-trip-soyuz.html
Space Calendar 2016: Launches & Sky Events
http://www.space.com/32286-space-calendar.html
Thanks!
I discovered it quite by accident a few weeks ago; been having lots of fun watching the sunrise and sunset over and over and over ...
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