Tag Archives: International Space Station

Salyut: How We Learned To Make Space Stations

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When you think about space stations, which ones come to mind first? You might think Skylab, the International Space Station (ISS), or maybe Russia’s Mir. But before any of those took to the heavens, there was Salyut.

Russia’s Salyut 1 was humankind’s first space station. The ensuing Salyut program lasted fifteen years, from 1971 to 1986, and the lessons learned from this remarkable series of experiments are still in use today in the International Space Station (ISS). The program was so successful at a time when the US manned space program was dormant that one could say that the Russians …read more

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The Hard-Learned Lessons of the Columbia Disaster

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On February 1st, 2003 at eighteen seconds past 9:00 AM Eastern Standard Time, the Space Shuttle Columbia broke up during atmospheric entry over Texas. Still traveling at approximately Mach 18.3, the disintegration of Columbia was complete and nearly instantaneous. According to the official accident investigation, the crew had at most one minute from realizing they were in a desperate situation to complete destruction of the spacecraft. Due to the design of the Space Shuttle, no contingency plan or emergency procedure could have saved the crew at this point in the mission: all seven crew members were lost in this tragedy. …read more

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The Teenager Who Sent An Experiment to Space and Dreams of Visiting Mars

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Alia Almansoori won a competition to have her experiment sent to the International Space Station, but she’s not capping her ambitions at low Earth orbit. Continue reading The Teenager Who Sent An Experiment to Space and Dreams of Visiting Mars→

Happy Space Thanksgiving: How the Food-Stuffed Holiday Went Orbital

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“Just as on Earth, our feelings about Thanksgiving in space weren’t determined by the quality or the appearance of the meal—but by the people we shared it with.” Continue reading Happy Space Thanksgiving: How the Food-Stuffed Holiday Went Orbital→

Ok Google. Navigate to the International Space Station

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If you’d have asked most people a few decades ago if they wanted a picture of every street address in the world, they would have probably looked at you like you were crazy. But turns out that Google Street View is handy for several reasons. Sure, it is easy to check out the neighborhood around that cheap hotel before you book. But it is also a great way to visit places virtually. Now one of those places is the International Space Station (ISS).

[Thomas Pesquet] in a true hack used bungee cords and existing cameras to take panoramas of all …read more

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