They talk about some of the facilities in a way that kids can understand, and there's something wondrous about seeing how they move around, regularly changing their orientations, etc.
http://wsn.spaceflight.esa.int/php/download.php?fn=/videos/F...
Wow, I never realized how cluttered the ISS was. Stuff all over! Lots of Thinkpads as already mentioned, but lots of lots of things: cameras, lens, etc. I surprised at the amount of duplication. (I do realize that redundancy is key when you can't just run to the store to replace something, but still...)
Also, if I remember correctly (from some interview with some ESA guy, I think) people on the ground would prefer it if the station were kept tidier – but the people up there are busy people with more important things to do than to keep everything always super-tidy. But inventory management is apparently a big topic and they do have a system for it. (I think even including a barcode scanner to catalogue items.)
I mean, even still, looking at those images, I do have to say everything does seem … tidier than usual. I think they cleaned up before they took them. Those more improvised tours of the station from astronauts you can find on YouTube show a station that is substantially more cluttered. Or at least seem that way. Looking at those pictures and being familiar with others and videos of the station my first thought was not how cluttered everything is but how tidy. Compared to the usual state of things, at least.
They also note that:
The most common laptop on the ISS is the IBM Thinkpad T61P
(circa 2007 from before Lenovo acquired them...
The panoramas are of very high quality (except for the inevitable dead pixels). It is nice to see all the Ethernet cables, electrical outlets, stopwatches, valves, tools or just the video projector connected via VGA to a notebook in Node 1, just before you fly into the Russian module. And yes, there is a striking contrast between the Russian and the US/European/Japanese modules.
I especially recommend watching the time-lapse video shot by Alexander Gerst:
http://wsn.spaceflight.esa.int/videos/F_2014/F_Blue_Dot/1417...
Edit:
Btw. executing the following code in the JS console
"{" + pano.getCurrentNode() + "}\",\"" + pano.getPan() + "/" + pano.getTilt() + "/" + pano.getFov()
pano.openUrl("{node5}","216.49016925709486/38.116922404005344/47.440801242792304") // The IMAX...
pano.openUrl("{node5}","288.6799234893748/17.169120787478608/17.33030268127927") // ...and its CF cards[0] http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Columbus...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Payload...
There was a really good article[0] (plus a video talk I can't find) on a team that modified an Android phone to go to space to interface with the SPHERES mini satellite experiments. A short list of the things they had to do includes:
- No Lithium Ion battery, it takes 2+ years to get a LIon battery certified for the ISS
- Had to put a screen protector on, broken glass screen becomes an inhalation hazard in zero G, BUT many materials are considered flammable in the high oxygen environment on station.
- Had to lobotomize the Wifi and cellular chips to ensure they'd never turn on. Just removing the software that would control and allow them to turn on wasn't enough.
In addition to everything in the article they have to worry about off gassing from all the various materials that make up anything sent to space.
[0] http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/03/how-nasa-got-an-andro...
I assume that the thermal management part is significant reason for use of thinkpads. On another brands one can see that cooling is significantly dependent on orientation (usually with the best orientation for cooling being something other than "standing flat"), while thinkpads are able to get incredibly hot in any orientation, but I've never seen one overheat.
Another thing is the whole reliability and serviceability thing.
There's also a hatch in the deck of Unity that seems to have nothing on the other side (the one labelled Hab). Is it a place where a module will be added?
They do show living quarters in Node 2 -- there is even a video of the interior.
http://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2014/12/16/space-station-to-...
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.runar.issd...
That said, I would love to see a ISS-like structure on the moon, perhaps also serving as a dark-side radio telescope.
A lot of little experiments an LEO ferrying back and forth is something we've been able to do since at least the 60's. I would love to see some next-gen stuff and with the SLS I will. I think NASA is very committed to a manned asteroid mission and a return to the moon.
I assume that’s the case, since that is the only explanation that does make sense given the design – with the red stripes – and the consistent placement of the signs. The station has two other obvious exits – the two air locks – but those wouldn’t be used in case of an emergency and don’t need signage throughout the station showing you the way there.
There is an exit sign right next to the US airlock, but that could also just be there to tell you to turn left when you exit the airlock to get to the docked Soyuz: http://imgur.com/8UJP11Y
If you look around you can see that the red stripe design is used throughout the station to show you where things are you would need in an emergency, like “Portable Breathing Apparatus”, “Fire Extinguisher” and “Fire Port” (all for use during fires). There are also some signs with red stripes that have different directional arrows and pictograms on them. Oh, I just zoomed in on those and look what I found: http://imgur.com/3Qyl3bE
That’s your definite answer! The pictograms are an elaboration on the Exit signs, showing you the directions in which you can find the Shuttle and Soyuz. Obviously, that Shuttle pictogram – it was always docked at the other end of the station – is kinda outdated by now. They can hopefully put some nice Dragon/CST-100 stickers on there soon.
It seems they use red/white stripes to indicate emergency routes and equipment and yellow/black stripes for warnings and caution signs. Blue signs to show you where up and own, backward and forward, left and right is. As the station is always in free fall that’s obviously arbitrary, but consistently defining those directions in some way obviously also helps with orientation (and, I would assume, communication between everyone working up there and those on the ground communicating with the station). Look for the OVHD, FWD, AFT, DECK and so on signs around the hatches. Also, look at the hatch where you enter the Russian sector (directly beyond that and down are the Soyuz). You can see many round glow-in-dark patches around the hatch, obviously also used to show you the way to a Soyuz ship, especially if, say, power and lights are out.
By the way, look what I found: http://imgur.com/Elwl8Rf
It seems someone moved the equipment for some reason and patched over the emergency sign, adding a handwritten note with the place the equipment was moved to.
I know that they do have a printer on board but, eh, I guess a handwritten note will do. (I love looking at all of those all over the station.)
(Cosmonauts in the Russian part of the station apparently have an innate sense of direction in space and as such do not need signs, or at least not as many. And definitely none with such gaudy designs!)
I'm really curious what some of this stuff is, like that green box in the middle of that cluster of Thinkpads on the Columbus module, the blue box and other stuff "beneath" the oven. Power distribution modules? Computers in hardened cases?