Ode to the Space Shuttle

Goddamnit -FUPPETS- loves the Space Shuttle. -FUPPETS- remembers grade school in Puerto Rico and being pulled out of class to see the Space Shuttle Columbia's exhaust trail as it arced into outer space. It is easy now for people to take the fleet for granted, even with the multiple tragedies, because the shuttles were and are so amazing. They made space travel seem easy, simple even. The successes of the fleet such as the International Space Station, the Hubble Space Telescope and our current technological revolutions have made everyone forget how amazing it is to go into outer space. There have been less than 600 HUMAN BEINGS to leave our atmosphere!!!! EVER! FUCK! That is amazing and under appreciated. There are over 6 Billion people currently alive. There have probably been several dozen-Billion Homo Sapiens creatures crawling upon the face of our Earth. Only several hundred have ever left the safety of our atmosphere. They join the company of several dozen monkeys, dogs, mice, and assorted small creatures who have experienced what it feels to leave Mother Earth. -FUPPETS- hopes that this is not lost on the government and those in power as they plan the next fleet of vehicles to further the human expansion into Space.

On February 24th the Space Shuttle Discovery launched for the final time. It is a sad time for -FUPPETS- and all space nerds worldwide.

Feb 24 2011 - Final Shuttle Launch, Space Shuttle Discovery

Spotting Space Junk from Earth

On November the 18th, Space Shuttle Endeavor Astronaut Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper (pictured above) lost her grip on a $100,000 tool bag while she was trying to clean up a spill from a grease-gun being used to lubricate part of the International Space Station's solar wings. This was a near catastrophe, as the astronauts then had to share one remaining tool bag among them, with a week's worth of repairs yet to complete.
Here is an image captured as the backpack-sized bag floated away.

Many thought that the tool bag would go on to join the many pieces of space junk and be lost among them, but the good folks at Spaceweather.com have been tracking the tool bag, and not only that, amateur astronomers on Earth have been checking it out as it proceeds across the night sky just ahead of the International Space Station! Hilarious!

After sunset on Nov. 22, Edward Light, using 10 x 50 binoculars, spotted the bag in space while he scanned the sky from his backyard in Lakewood, N.J., Spaceweather.com reported. On the same night, Keven Fetter of Brockville, Ontario, video-recorded the bag as it passed by the star Eta Pisces in the constellation Pisces.
More bag-viewing opportunities are expected.
The tool bag can be seen through binoculars, a few minutes ahead of the space station's orbit. The satellite tracker predicts that the bag will be visible through binoculars from Europe and western North America during a series of passes this week. By late next week, the tool bag should appear in the evening skies over most of North America.
Like other space debris, the tool bag's show will have a fiery end. "We currently predict that the errant tool bag will fall back to Earth in June of next year," said Nicholas Johnson, chief scientist for orbital debris at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "The date is dependent upon solar activity, so an earlier or later date is possible. As the reentry date draws nearer, a more accurate prediction can be made." And he expects the entire tool bag will burn up upon reentry. "Although we have not yet conducted a detailed reentry survivability analysis for the tool bag and its contents, it is highly likely that no components will reach the surface of the Earth," Johnson told SPACE.com.

Astronauts Want Coffee in Space, Not Piss

In space, there is no way to keep liquids in check, once they escape the sealed bags and pouches they are transported in. Astronauts must eat very specifically calculated food, food which will stick to utensils or which can be eaten through a straw. Much research has been done to allow for the astronauts, especially the ones that have to live aboard the International Space Station for extended periods of time, to enjoy a varied, nutritious, and delicious diet, without risking the highly sensitive experiments and equipment. Whereas the early cosmonauts and astronauts had to wolf down some re-hydrated nasty shit, these days they have actual dishes to enjoy, such as these below.

They do not look too bad huh? Beverages come in the same types of pouches and are drunk through straws. That includes hot drinks such as coffee and tea. One astronaut, Don Pettit, loves his coffee, and has figured out how to drink his coffee from a cup instead of sucking it up a straw, all while aboard the International Space Station. Below is an excerpt of this article by Tariq Malik of Space.com detailing how he achieved this.

"We can suck our coffee from a bag, but to drink it from a cup is hard to do
because you can't get the cup up to get the liquid out, and it's also easy to slosh," Pettit told Mission Control while sending a video of his new invention to Earth.
Pettit arrived at the space station last week aboard the shuttle Endeavour, which is delivering a recycling system that converts urine into drinking water and other new gear to outfit the space station for large, six-person crew.
He used a piece of plastic ripped from his Flight Data File mission book and folded it into a teardrop-shape that's closed at one end.
Surface tension inside the cup keeps the coffee from floating out and running
amuck.
"The way this works is, the cross section of this cup looks like an airplane wing," he said. "The narrow angle here will wick the coffee up."
The result: space coffee in a zero-G cup. The theory behind the novel coffee cup is the same one used by rockets use to draw fuel into their engines while flying through weightless conditions in space, Pettit said.
"This may very well be what future space colonists end up using when they want to have a celebration and do a toast," Pettit said.
Pettit is no stranger to space invention.
During his first spaceflight as the space station's Expedition 6 science officer in
2002/2003, he was renown for his Saturday Morning Science efforts and tinkering with broken hardware. He told SPACE.com before launching aboard Endeavour that he hoped to hunt down his favorite tools, stowed away in a so-called Strange Tool Bag, when he returned to the space station.
It was during his Expedition 6 mission that Pettit packed along enough instant coffee to tide him over during his long-duration mission in space. Drinking coffee through a bag pales in comparison to the comfort of a real cup, he said.
"You can enjoy a cup of coffee in a weightless environment without having to sip it from a bag," Pettit said. "You can just keep sipping and sipping clear down to the last drop in the cup."

Here is NASA video of Mr. Pettit describing his invention.

Outer Space Piss Recycler Runs Afoul

As profiled previously on -FUPPETS- , The International Space Station is doubling it's full-time crew next year and to get ready for it, they are adding more living space and a second bathroom, as well as installing a system by which any excess water in the air and in the astronauts' waste will be recycled. This system was supposed to work at around 90% efficiency, allowing for longer stays and keeping the shuttle from being burdened by bringing water for the astronauts and cosmonauts that inhabit the station. The Space Shuttles bring water as a by-product of their electrical systems. This water is then bagged up by the astronauts and used for their drinking and washing. Since the shuttle will stop flying in two years, a quality urine processing machine had to be installed.

After installing the new urine filtration system they have had several glitches, and the machine is not working up to the standards expected. A centrifuge used in the distillation process stops functioning after a few hours. This is crucial and needs to be addressed. Samples of the water have been collected and will be taken back to Earth to be analyzed. Potable water is a crucial step in ensuring the success of an expanded crew aboard the space station.

Outer Space Piss Drinkin' Is All The Rage

The International Space Station (ISS) will have new additions after tonight's night-time launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. The crew aboard the ISS will grow and will be getting two small bedrooms, the station's first refrigerator, new exercise gear, and perhaps most important for a growing crew -- a second toilet.
On top of all this great stuff, the astronauts will be installing a water purifier, which will filter their urine for drinking.

"Other than a faint taste of iodine, it is just as refreshing as any other kind of water."--Bob Bagdigian (NASA)

The goal is to process the urine and the moisture in the air at around 92% efficiency. They expect this to equal about 23 liters (6 gallons) of drinking water every day. Since the Space Shuttle is due to be retired, the folks at NASA had to think of something because ferrying tanks of potable water up to the orbiting ISS is just too costly and prohibitive. The ISS crew complement will now be 6, and for that new sleeping areas and another bathroom seem absolutely necessary!

ASTRONAUTS VOTE FROM SPACE

There are always different systems set up to allow for U.S.A. citizens to vote when they are not in their home districts. There are early voting campaigns for people who will be out of town on election day. There are voting booths set up for the military personnel who are stationed out of the country. There are a couple of Americans however, who are very very far away from any polling place and have to do something extraordinary to cast their vote.

Commander Edward Michael Fincke and Flight Engineer and Science Officer Greg Chamitoff are living and working onboard the International Space Station. Though they are 220 miles above Earth and orbiting at 17,500 miles per hour, they will still be able to participate in the upcoming election. A 1997 bill passed by Texas legislators sets up a technical procedure for astronauts -- nearly all of whom live in Houston -- to vote from space. (Science Daily)

The Harris & Brazoria County Clerk's Office created a secure ballot which is uplinked to the astronauts from NASA's Johnson Space Center Mission Control. The E-mails are encrypted with crew-member specific details so as to ensure proper voting and anonimity.

That's some pretty bad-ass shit there. There is no reason not to vote except for your own laziness, ineptitude, or callous disinterest. With so many astronauts living in Houston it is kick-ass that the County Clerk's Office has seen fit to ensure that these people's votes are counted. Space is the place.