Please create an account to participate in the Slashdot moderation system

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

Chemical Leak on ISS 134

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the damn-the-torpedoes-full-speed-ahead dept.
Random Utinni writes "It looks like the Russian Elektron system on the ISS may be causing problems again. Today the crew discovered potassium hydroxide leaking into the space station. This comes right after delivery of new ISS components and right before the arrival of a new crew and first female space tourist."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Chemical Leak on ISS More

Chemical Leak on ISS

Comments Filter:
  • one has to admire their quiet selfless heroism.

    • Re:kudos to the austronauts and cosmonauts (Score:5, Funny)

      by rackhamh ( 217889 ) on Monday September 18, 2006 @08:39PM (#16135166)
      one has to admire their quiet selfless heroism.

      Buddha would have made a great astronaut.

      • Re:kudos to the austronauts and cosmonauts (Score:4, Funny)

        by Schemat1c ( 464768 ) on Tuesday September 19, 2006 @03:06AM (#16136320) Homepage
        Buddha would have made a great astronaut.

        Nah, too fat.

        • Re:kudos to the austronauts and cosmonauts (Score:4, Informative)

          by IDontAgreeWithYou ( 829067 ) on Tuesday September 19, 2006 @06:49AM (#16136828)
          From Wikipedia:
          Athletic and fit throughout his life, competent in martial arts such as chariot combat, wrestling, and archery, and later easily hiking miles each day and camping in the wilderness. Images of a fat "Jolly Buddha" or Laughing Buddha are actually depictions of either Maitreya the future Buddha (Chinese Mile Fo), or a 10th century Chinese monk, Budai Heshang (Japanese Hotei)
          • From Wikipedia:

                    Athletic and fit throughout his life, competent in martial arts such as chariot combat, wrestling, and archery, and later easily hiking miles each day and camping in the wilderness. Images of a fat "Jolly Buddha" or Laughing Buddha are actually depictions of either Maitreya the future Buddha (Chinese Mile Fo), or a 10th century Chinese monk, Budai Heshang (Japanese Hotei)

            That's actually very interesting. Thank you.

    • All failures included this system of air purification made the space station possible. I think the Russian Scientists who came up with it deserve a fantasic thank you and ... well of course they need to work out a glitch or two.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by sporkme ( 983186 ) *
      Hell yes! Thank you for a great comment. Gus Grissom [wikipedia.org], who died in the Apollo 1 fire in 1967, is from my home state of Indiana. Many highways, buildings, and events are named for him, especially in Mitchell, IN. The three character code for Grissom Air Force Base is GUS. I have always thought that that was a nice touch. Astronauts don't get this type of accolade these days (except on Slashdot). As I recall, they were especially ignored between the destructions of Challenger and Columbia. Why no John [wikipedia.org]
      • Poor Gus was sort of jinxed... His Mercury capsule filled with water and sank, he nearly sank with it. And then, well, Apollo 1.
      • Astronauts don't get this type of accolade these days

        For the same reason we only hear of a few names during the conquest... er settling of the American West. You hear of the first few trailblazers and a few other notorious ones but that didn't make the efforts of the nameless ones that followed any less heroic.

    • Re: (Score:1, Offtopic)

      by Cyno ( 85911 )
      i admire our troops noisey destructive heroism, personally, to each his own..

    • Re:kudos to the austronauts and cosmonauts (Score:4, Insightful)

      by ScentCone ( 795499 ) on Monday September 18, 2006 @10:25PM (#16135593)
      one has to admire their quiet selfless heroism

      Quiet? OK, I guess. Heroism? Certainly courage, anyway. Selfless? Why toss that word out there? It doesn't mean anything in this context. They have a completely selfish reason to work through this problem gracefully: survival, and some lessening of their discomfort while this thing gets mopped up. What choice do they have? They (themselves) chose to get involved with the program each for their own reasons. This is the sort of risk they knew they'd face, and they're carrying on with some quality stoicism, here, not martyrdom or an abandonment of themselves in face of some difficulty. There are thousands of people who would jump at the chance to do exactly what those folks are doing - and "selflessness" has got nothing to do with it.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by leanweb ( 991297 )
        not in that particular incident, but heroism (which i'll bet you they dont see as such) is their daily life up there.

        Mike Foale [wikipedia.org] once was asked about his moments after Mir collided with Progress. something to the effect "werent you scared that perhaps the hull got damaged and may be you're running out of air?" what he answered was (i'm heavily paraphrasing) "well, if leak would have been too bad, i would have felt air rushing from my lungs and that was not the case, i knew there was a leak but we had time

        • if this is not heroism, what is?

          Self-preservation? Keeping a cool head so you don't get yourself killed?

          Heroic is the endeavor of sitting on top of a big-ass bomb and getting blasted up into space in order to help the rest of humanity learn something new. Heroic - risking your ass to help others.

          When I was 9, my brother and I were in an accident while hiking in the woods. He broke his left leg and right ankle, I broke my collar-bone and right arm, and was impaled through my right oblique. I walked 4 miles t

  • obligatory (Score:5, Interesting)

    by sporkme ( 983186 ) * on Monday September 18, 2006 @08:34PM (#16135143) Homepage
    In Soviet Russia, potassium hydroxide breathes you!

    Fron TFA:
    "NASA declared a spacecraft emergency for only the second time in the eight-year history of the station. The first time was for a false alarm of an ammonia spill."

    That is a fantastic track record for an environment in a constant state of upgrade, falling perpetually at 17000 miles per hour. Nevermind the flammable nature of the atmosphere that surrounds overworked electronics and the parade of "space tourists." Ever have a visiting family member flush a broken toilet?
    • Ah but the space tourists know that if they "flush the broken toilet", the entire world will hear about it within two hours.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Decaff ( 42676 )
      falling perpetually at 17000 miles per hour.

      How is this a factor? It is in orbit, and relatively stable. It is not as if it is blasting rockets to keep that speed, or rushing through atmosphere at that speed.

      Just standing still anywhere on the equator, a human is moving at 1040 miles per hour..... is our survival somehow an achievement as a result?

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by opec ( 755488 )
        How is this a factor? It is in orbit, and relatively stable.

        Anything in orbit is in a constant state of free-fall. Learn about it [k12.il.us]...

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Decaff ( 42676 )
          Anything in orbit is in a constant state of free-fall.

          I know. That is my point. Being in free-fall, there are virtually no forces acting on it. So, the implication in the GP post that surviving 'falling at high speed' should somehow be an achievement is mistaken.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by sporkme ( 983186 ) *
        If falling perpetually at 17000 miles per hour is so easy, lets see you do it!

        Consider these. Supply missions and such have to achieve this velocity, too. There is a lot of manmade debris, not to mention natural hazards. Orbiting the Earth is not a simple groove in which the ISS slides by day in and day out. Orbit is a carefully calculated and obsessively maintained state of teetering on escape from gravity and orbital collapse into the atmosphere; thus, the orbit is a stressful, chaotic, dangerous and

        • Re:obligatory (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Decaff ( 42676 ) on Monday September 18, 2006 @10:52PM (#16135694)
          If falling perpetually at 17000 miles per hour is so easy, lets see you do it!

          I already am - far faster in fact. So are you. That is the Earth's orbital velocity around the Sun.

          Consider these. Supply missions and such have to achieve this velocity, too.

          Yes, but that is their problem, not the space station's. Now it has this velocity, it is relatively stable.

          There is a lot of manmade debris, not to mention natural hazards.

          Yes, but not much physical stress.

          Orbiting the Earth is not a simple groove in which the ISS slides by day in and day out.

          Actually, that is precisely what it is! It requires very little energy to maintain.

          Orbit is a carefully calculated and obsessively maintained state of teetering on escape from gravity and orbital collapse into the atmosphere; thus, the orbit is a stressful, chaotic, dangerous and relatively unpredictable state for a floating flophouse.

          No, it isn't. It is very predictable indeed; so predictable it can be used for some of the finest measurements. Orbits are not a fine balance. Once in orbit, it is very hard to remove something from it. Put lots of energy in an you simply change the dimensions of the orbit - it certainly is nothing like 'teetering on escape from gravity' - that would require phenomenal energy input, as would a quick collapse of orbit. The only problem is a slow decay of orbit due to friction from the remnants of atmosphere at the altitude of the ISS.

          Care to belittle the program a little more, doctor? Go ahead and make another comparison between standing on the earth and venturing into space.

          I am not belittling the space program - I am a very enthusiastic supporter, and seem to be one of the few left who still think the ISS is a good idea.

          What I object to is bad reporting of science.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Decaff ( 42676 )
            That is the Earth's orbital velocity around the Sun.

            Of course, what I meant is 'that is LESS than the Earth's orbital velocity'.
          • Whenever life gets you down, Mrs. Brown,
            And things seem hard or tough,
            And people are stupid, obnoxious or daft,
            And you feel that you've had quite eno-o-o-o-o-ough...

            Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving
            And revolving at nine hundred miles an hour,
            That's orbiting at nineteen miles a second, so it's reckoned,
            A sun that is the source of all our power.
            The sun and you and me and all the stars that we can see
            Are moving at a million miles a day
            In an outer spiral arm, at forty thousand miles
        • Orbit is a carefully calculated and obsessively maintained state of teetering on escape from gravity and orbital collapse into the atmosphere; thus, the orbit is a stressful, chaotic, dangerous and relatively unpredictable state for a floating flophouse.
          orbit is a pretty predictable state without too much sudden change. There is quite a big difference between the velocity needed to enter orbit and that actually needed to escape earth (iirc the former is arround 5 miles per second and the latter arround 7 mi
      • Just standing still anywhere on the equator, a human is moving at 1040 miles per hour..... is our survival somehow an achievement as a result?

        Hey, if you are standing on the equator and it makes you feel good to boast about your accomplishment of surviving being hurtled around the earth at 1040 mph, then I say, "feel free".
    • Are you kidding? I AM that family member.

  • first female space tourist (Score:5, Interesting)

    by QuantumG ( 50515 ) <qg@biodome.org> on Monday September 18, 2006 @08:37PM (#16135154) Homepage Journal
    meh. Helen Sharman kinda predates her by 15 years. Not to mention the fact that neither actually like the term "space tourist" and have claimed they are the first such.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by FleaPlus ( 6935 ) *
      Helen Sharman kinda predates her by 15 years. Not to mention the fact that neither actually like the term "space tourist" and have claimed they are the first such.

      Indeed. It seems that people want to use the term "space tourist" for anybody that pays their own way, rather than having the government pay for them (or in the case of Helen Sharman, having a consortium of British companies pay for her). I don't think anybody would've called the partipants in the ill-fated Teacher in Space Project [wikipedia.org] tourists, even

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by QuantumG ( 50515 )
        It's a bit much to suggest that Anousheh Ansari is paying her own way. Especially seeing as it was the Ansari X-Prize that really defined what "paying your own way" means for a space vehicle. What's lacking in this debate is that using the term "space tourist" is supposed to help open the door for people who want to pay their own way. It's supposed to stimulate this market to vote with their dollars and get people offering services. This was also what the X-Prize was supposed to do of course.. but that

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by alienw ( 585907 )
          The whole X prize thing was not much more than a publicity stunt. The actual value of SpaceShipOne for commercializing space travel (or anything really) is pretty much zero. Yeah, it can go up a hundred miles or whatever. That's a pretty far cry of what is required to get into orbit. That's like bringing a pointed wooden stick to a gunfight or trying to compete in Formula 1 with a 10-speed bike. The X prize has not brought us any closer to orbit, and the rest doesn't matter a whole lot.

          • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

            by QuantumG ( 50515 )
            It could have earned some money that Rutan could have put into making his SpaceShipTwo, and further stimulated the market to encourage others to do the same. Instead, what it did was quiet the market and force people to write yet-another-business-plan.

            • Re: (Score:1)

              by dmdb ( 937749 )
              I disagree, others are being encouraged to do the same seeing the success of Rutan. Take the press release the other day of the Cambridge University students who have just used a ballon [cam.ac.uk] to take pictures of the earth from 32Km for £1000 (approx $1879). Now this doesn't sound like very much and in the grand scheme of things it isn't but its their long term goals are which are important. The project intends in future launches to use ballons to push that first 30Km with a rocket then taking over to take t
          • SpaceShipOne is to civilian space travel as the X-15 was to the US space program. It's a testbed, it's where much of what will be used to reach orbit is developed. No company is going to jump straight to desinging an orbital craft, there's a long learning process. Even then, there are only two major things missing, the first is enough fuel to reach orbit, and the second is a system to re-enter the atmosphere.

            SS1's hybrid rocket is a pretty major development on it's own.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by FleaPlus ( 6935 ) *
          It's a bit much to suggest that Anousheh Ansari is paying her own way.

          Why's that? If one purchases a trip on a vesselat the current market price, regardless of whether or not that vessel is government-operated, isn't that paying one's own way?

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by QuantumG ( 50515 )
            I'm trying to think of an example of that and I'm simply not. It's not like you can compare it to a commuter busway, the subsidy provided by the government in that case is minor, and even in that case you'd be hard pressed to claim that the passengers were paying their own way - they're not, the government is subsidizing them. Similarly, you can't claim that Ansari is paying the "market price" for a trip to the ISS, as there is no market - right now there's only one place to go if you want such a trip and

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by FleaPlus ( 6935 ) *
              It's not like you can compare it to a commuter busway, the subsidy provided by the government in that case is minor, and even in that case you'd be hard pressed to claim that the passengers were paying their own way - they're not, the government is subsidizing them.

              In this case though, Russia is acting more like a business -- there's no legislation obligating them to sell trips, but they're doing it because it's making them a profit.

              Similarly, you can't claim that Ansari is paying the "market price" for a t

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by QuantumG ( 50515 )
                monopoly market is an oxymoron.

                • Re: (Score:2)

                  by FleaPlus ( 6935 ) *
                  > monopoly market is an oxymoron.

                  Sure, but regarding the question of whether or not Ansari paid for herself, it just means that she was price-gouged.
  • Offcourse what can you expect when you've a lady on board.

  • Hrmm, Mir? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by HatchedEggs ( 1002127 ) on Monday September 18, 2006 @08:42PM (#16135181) Homepage Journal
    Does anybody know what kinds of problems they encountered with the Mir? I know that it is not exactly applicable to this situation, just was curious.

    I t0o second that the ISS has a remarkable track record considering just what it is. A man made object that has to house several people 24/7/365 in space.

    It does seem like the Elektron system has had some problems though. I wonder if after all this any member nations will chip in for a new model.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by dbIII ( 701233 )
      Does anybody know what kinds of problems they encountered with the Mir? I know that it is not exactly applicable to this situation, just was curious.
      I recall the oxygen generation unit on Mir had the same name and had some problems at various points - the book "Dragonfly" about NASA crew members experiences on Mir has something about it.
      • Ouch, thats unfortunate. You'd think somebody would review some of the past problems before signing up a country to create the same piece for an International endeavor.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by dbIII ( 701233 )
          Ouch, thats unfortunate. You'd think somebody would review some of the past problems before signing up a country to create the same piece for an International endeavor.

          I did not say that and I think saying something like that is jumping to a very large conclusion on no information. Sometimes the only tested tool for a job still has problems and any long term oxygen generation gear used by NASA would unfortunately be antiquated in comparison to Mir.

    • Value of ISS (Score:3, Interesting)

      by CRMeatball ( 964998 )
      While the ISS is certainly an engineering and political achievement, one has to wonder about the actual value of the ISS. NASA is spending massive amounts of money to build it, at the expense of funding critical science research. It is also causing them to ignore the fact that within 5 years, more than 1/4 of NASA's workforce is going to retire. Seeing that it is usurping all of NASA's resources, it makes me wonder, Is it really worth it? It reminds me of something I heard about a year or so ago. A retire
      • It seems that ever time ISS issues come up, then everybody starts knocking it, all the while not thinking. Back in the 60's, we had to develop rockets to make it to space and then to the moon. As it is, other than the shuttle, the launch rate is actually pretty safe. But it was not back in the 60s (it really was amazing that we did not lose more astronauts in the 60s work). But it was a time of learning.

        For the last 2 decades, we have been only in LEO, which kind of sucks. But it we do not have a flawless

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by khallow ( 566160 )

          It seems that ever time ISS issues come up, then everybody starts knocking it, all the while not thinking.

          This statement is both incorrect and rude.

          For the last 2 decades, we have been only in LEO, which kind of sucks. But it we do not have a flawless system in orbit (where we can come back easily), then how are we going to survive on the moon or mars? In particular, America is now testing the OGS (Oxygen Generator system). This will enhance the russian elektron. America is now developing a system th

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by TubeSteak ( 669689 )

      Does anybody know what kinds of problems they encountered with the Mir? I know that it is not exactly applicable to this situation, just was curious.

      IIRC, most of the problems on the ISS have been a result of American craftsmanship.

      The Russia built stuff is more primitive, but also a lot sturdier.

      It does seem like the Elektron system has had some problems though.

      http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5953450/ [msn.com]
      Sept 10, 2004
      "The three Elektron units on board the space station are the last of their kind. The company that

      • Re:Hrmm, Mir? (Score:5, Funny)

        by soft_guy ( 534437 ) on Monday September 18, 2006 @10:45PM (#16135672)
        IIRC, most of the problems on the ISS have been a result of American craftsmanship.

        You mean it was made in a rented factory in China?

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by stevesliva ( 648202 )
        The Russia built stuff is more primitive, but also a lot sturdier.
        I like how you support this claim with evidence to the contrary.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by sjames ( 1099 )

        It's really a matter of engineering philosophy. While the NASA approach emphasizes going to heroic lengths to prevent things from failing, the Russian approach is to design so that failures have minimal consequences.

        Apparently this engineering philosophy is/was applied everywhere in the Soviet Union. A coworker desscribed televisions in the Soviet Union. Apparently electronic componants tended to have very wide tolerences, so the circuits were intricatly designed so they could work even when things were 2

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by DerekLyons ( 302214 )

        IIRC, most of the problems on the ISS have been a result of American craftsmanship.

        The Russia built stuff is more primitive, but also a lot sturdier.

        You don't recall correctly - as Elektron has had ongoing problems for several years now.

        The [Elektron] unit's design lifetime was originally one year.

        And the currently installed unit is the third such unit to be installed on the ISS. Each of the units only lasted as long as they did through heroic repair efforts - not by any intrinsic

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AGMW ( 594303 )
      Does anybody know what kinds of problems they encountered with the Mir?

      I'm glad you brought up Mir because in a previous thread about ISS some people (including me) suggested it might have been useful to have kept Mir in space, indeed, moved its orbit to allow it to link up with the ISS as a "safe haven". The idea was shot down in flames - cost of orbit change and the fact that it was so old and knackered.

      Now we have a chemical leak on the ISS, though thankfully not too critical. What if it was a BIGGER

      • Russia (and America) could not afford to keep 2 space stations in orbit. What has to happen is that costs must be lowered for launch and maintence. Once that happens, then it is possible. As it is, that is happening. Bigelow Aerospace has a small prototype in orbit (genesis I). In the future, they will have a system in space that costs less than several hundred millions (real cheap considering that a single launch of the shuttle is 1 billion). In fact, I am guessing that China is busy trying to copy it for

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Fizzl ( 209397 )
      24/7/365

      Don't you mean 24/7/52?

      As in 24 hours per day, 7 days a week.... And additionally the 52 weeks a year.

      (What next... 5000 years every re-creation of the universe by our Lord and Saviour Chuck Norris)
  • Today the crew discovered potassium hydroxide leaking into the space station. This comes right after delivery of new ISS components and right before the arrival of a new crew and first female space tourist.

    Now that she's around, they'll have to make sure to put the seat down after making a leak.

  • Looks like they'll need another safety sign. (Score:4, Funny)

    by bobdotorg ( 598873 ) on Monday September 18, 2006 @08:50PM (#16135214)
    We all remember the tense few days tracking down the sulphur leak that lead to the conspicuous posting of
    this sign. [ubersite.com]

  • On the Plus Side... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by moehoward ( 668736 ) on Monday September 18, 2006 @08:54PM (#16135229)

    You know, I just love the fact that Anousheh Ansari is up there. It has been so long since we've had such inspiration, imagination, and determination in the space program. Heck, even of all the space programs going on these days in the world. Her presence there is inspirational and has really captured the imagination of my kids and their friends. Simply wonderful to see that look in their eyes that I must have had in the Apollo days. A woman who paid a prize to go to space also paid for her own trip up there. Just for the fun of it! And to boot, with all that is going on in the world, she is of Iranian descent. I mean, come on. If we can't feel good about this and make some "nice" over it, then we should really be ashamed of ourselves.

    This is just fantastic. Thank you, Anousheh.
    • Plus she ain't bad lookin either :)

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Anousheh_Ansari .jpg [wikipedia.org]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Cyno ( 85911 )
      Soon your kids will be able to get in line for their trip to LEO. Before you know it we might even have Disney Moon.

      But, honestly, I doubt we'll get much further than this. Economics being what they are..

      I don't see any practical reason for the ISS's existence.. its expensive and dangerous and its getting us nowhere fast.

      Let me know when y'all want to have an honest and open discussion about space, until then there's The Disclosure Project and missing NASA moon landing videos to keep me entertained. I m
      • missing NASA moon landing videos to keep me entertained. I mean, how the fuck can NASA misplace the moon landing tapes? NASA, y'know, those guys responsible for litereally petabytes of data. Yet our most important moment in history somehow forgotten..

        You think some phoney pictures of some guys out in the desert pretending to be on the moon are the most important moment in history??

        I'm sure glad NASA exists. Otherwise how would I pay a zillion dollars in taxes just so some dude can fly up into orbit to say

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Krolley ( 65102 )
      What is there to feel good about? I feel ambivalent; one the one hand it is good to see a woman of iranian descent in space, and its good for iranians (and muslims and women) that look up to her. On the other hand, she is just another entrepreneur who paid her way up into space, how is that inspirational?

  • Potassium Hydroxide (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 18, 2006 @08:58PM (#16135249)
    The crew first reported smoke but it turned out to be an irritant, potassium hydroxide, leaking from an oxygen vent, Suffredini said.
    Would that make their original story a caustic lye?

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      With Soviet purifier, station takes leak on you!

  • Space Station and Shuttle, against the Sun (Score:5, Interesting)

    by lecithin ( 745575 ) on Monday September 18, 2006 @09:07PM (#16135283)
    A bit off topic, but I just saw this and thought I would share:

    http://www.astrosurf.com/legault/iss_shuttle.jpg [astrosurf.com]

    It is just amazing the amount of detail that can be seen from the earth.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by AJWM ( 19027 )
      That's gotta be the strangest shaped sunspot I've ever seen. ;-)

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by AxminsterLeuven ( 963108 )
      That's no sun! It's a space station!

  • Damn Microsoft (Score:5, Funny)

    by ArsonSmith ( 13997 ) on Monday September 18, 2006 @10:05PM (#16135522) Journal
    Everytime I log on to slashdot there is always something. This time "Critical leak in IIS" no wonder nobody ever reads the articles or even the blurbs.

    My god slasdot is nothing more than an MS bashing site these days.
    • My god slasdot is nothing more than an MS bashing site these days.
      Breaking News! Not only does MS control your PC, but they also control the International Space Station and most of Soviet Russia.

      no wonder nobody ever reads the articles or even the blurbs.
      Case in point.

      (This had to be done.) (^_^)b

    • IIS is such a lot of toxic waste are you really surprised that it leaks onto the Interweb.
  • (slightly offtopic, but it was in the summary)

    ...and first female space tourist"

    Someone earlier mentioned (perhaps not on /.) that we're running out of "First"s for women in space travel. We're also very proud whenever another one can be ticked off the list.

    We shouldn't be so proud to parade around these statistics: there's a whole class of them that haven't been touched: "First misson where there are a majority (or at least parity) of women..." Like, what is the most women that there have been in any 7-p

  • Anousheh Ansari official blog, other details (Score:5, Interesting)

    by FleaPlus ( 6935 ) * on Monday September 18, 2006 @10:35PM (#16135623) Journal
    For those of you curious about such things, the X Prize (which Anousheh Ansari funded) is hosting an official Anousheh Ansari Space Blog [xprize.org]. Before her launch, Anousheh posted some descriptions of her pre-launch training and her thoughts on going to space. There's also some commentary from Peter Diamandis, the founder of the X Prize.

    Some other interesting bits of info:

    * She's carrying a small carbon-fiber piece of Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne [msn.com] up with her into orbit.

    * According to an interview with MSNBC's Alan Boyle [msn.com], she had initially planned on bringing some science projects up with her, but this was scratched when the launch date was suddently bumped from being 1-2 years to being a few months away. However, she's purchased some datalink time in order to do live communications [msn.com] with groups at MIT and Google.

    * Her company Prodea is working with the Russian space agency and Space Adventures to build a suborbital spacecraft which will launch out of spaceports in the UAE and Singapore.

    * She rathes dislikes the term "space tourist." From an interview with space.com [space.com]:

    SPACE.com: You don't like the term "space tourist" and call it an "over simplistic label to a complicated process." Can you further explain that?

    AA: Absolutely. In a way I take offense when they call me a tourist because it brings that image of someone with a camera around their neck and a ticket in their hand walking to the airport to go on a trip somewhere and coming back to show their pictures. But I think spaceflight is much more than that.

    I've been training for it for six months. I think if it is to be compared to an experiment or an experience on Earth it probably is closer to expeditions like people who go to Antarctica or people who climb Mount Everest. I mean that requires a lot more preparation, thinking, and studying or appreciation of the environment. So I would probably compare it more to an expedition than I would to a touristy trip to another city.
  • I wonder if when Anousheh Ansari comes back from space she will start up her own Linux version :-) (see Ubuntu)

  • This comes right after delivery of new ISS components and right before the arrival of a new crew and first female space tourist.

    News flash: In 2006, in the western world, except when it comes to physical activity, being a woman while X is not notable unless X is notable by itself. Being the "first female space tourist" is not a "first" that anyone should care about. Being one of the first few space tourists is. Being behind the Ansari X-Prize is. Being a woman is not.

    Anyway, the post is wrong. Ans

  • Why not just the nth tourist?

    Of course, I bet she prefers the be the 'first' of something, but like I said in a previous -1 post, when I read 'first siamese space tourist' I am getting a gun and killing as many humans as possible to try and rebalance the sanity levels of the universe.

    'Feminists', what do you make of 'first female space tourist'. Probably they welcome that moniker, because they are fucking stupid.

    'Feminists' and 'male feminists' are certainly first against the wall. When I am king of course.

  • Cleaned up (Score:5, Funny)

    by niceone ( 992278 ) on Tuesday September 19, 2006 @02:38AM (#16136265) Journal
    The potassium hydroxide, a corrosive that can cause serious burns and can be harmful if inhaled, was cleaned up with towels and wrapped up in two rubber bags, Suffredini said.

    In space, no one can hear you clean.

  • Russian spaceparts, american spaceparts...

    ALL MADE IN TAIWAN!!

  • Now wait a second. I thought we had a color-blind, gender-blind, racially and gender neutral society where everyone is supposed to be equal, at least in the ideas of the liberal quacks in the media. So who gives a rat's ass that she's the first FEMALE space tourist? I guess "eqwalit-ee" only applies if it's against men or whites. Or the Jews. Can't forget those Jews.

Slashdot Top Deals

One half large intestine = 1 Semicolon

Close