As NASA prepares to double the number of astronauts living aboard the International Space Station, nothing may do more for crew bonding than a machine being launched aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on Friday.
The water recycling device will process the crew's urine for communal consumption.
"We did blind taste tests of the water," said NASA's Bob Bagdigian, the system's lead engineer.
"Nobody had any strong objections. Other than a faint taste of iodine, it is just as refreshing as any other kind of water."
"I've got some in my fridge," he added. "It tastes fine to me."
Delivery of the $250 million recycling gear is among the primary goals of NASA's 124th shuttle mission, which launched today from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
#5
wonder how many are still around?
the market for pedigreed race cars may be soft right now, along with everything else, but this is to my mind an investment. finding the correct engine and tranny will be the hard part. if memory serves, it is probably a 421 iron block with aluminum heads and either tri-power or dual quads. and a muncie close ratio 4 speed.
finding a 65 ford w/ a 427 sohc dual quad nascar street version would rank right up there also.
#6
Condor Guy, those are just ducted fan vehicles.
I suspect that all "UFO photos" that show discs and aren't ducted fan vehicles are basically hoaxes. I'll explain later, I gotta mangle some more luggage.
Basically... in the early 70s I was messing with a souped up he-ne laser and... mmm well...
when I met the ex-police chopper pilot 8 yrs later at a wedding and discovered he had a life changing experience the same night I was playing with my laser... and said experience on the same night, within meters of me, in his bubble police chopper, caused him to drop everything and become a true believing UFO researcher... well... besides the cost to my KARMA... I quickly understood that UFO stuff was total and complete BS!
I need some compensating KARMA?
Shipman ... will your ceiling cat grant me some?
A 200-year-old church building has disappeared from a village in central Russia, officials from the Russian Orthodox Church say.
The building had stood near the village of Komarovo since 1809. It was intact in July but some time in early October thieves made off with it brick by brick, they said.
Local prosecutors had been informed and an investigation was under way, a spokesman for the local Russian Orthodox Church said.
The disappearance of the Church of the Resurrection, some 300 km (186 miles) north-east of Moscow, was not immediately noticed. It was in an out-of-the-way area and was not being used, although Church officials were considering resuming services there. Now all that remained of the two-storey building - a school before it was turned over to the Church - were its foundations and some sections of wall, the Church said.
Thieves often target churches in rural Russia. Religious icons can be sold and church structures sold off for building materials.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/14/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
A DOG that leapt between a three-year-old boy and a highly venomous brown snake has been honoured by the RSPCA. Diesel, a cattle dog-dingo cross, was today hailed as a hero and received a big bone for saving a Sunshine Coast couple's grandson from being bitten by the snake.
Drew Gralike was playing on a swing last month at his grandfather's Eumundi property when the snake appeared. Diesel leapt between the boy and the snake, receiving a near-fatal bite.
Drew's grandfather, Stan Gralike, told ABC Radio that the snake was about to strike when Diesel intervened. "When the snake came up and was about to strike, everything was just like it was slow motion, because I couldn't get to Drew quick enough and the snake was up ready to strike and Diesel was like a cat," Mr Gralike said. "He twisted in mid-air, took off on one leg and got between Drew and the snake and grappled with the snake."
The family rushed Diesel to the nearest veterinary clinic where he pulled through after a second dose of anti-venom.
For his courageous act, he received a plaque declaring him the winner of the RSPCA's animal achievement award.
" Blue and Red Heelers around here and they are magnificent dogs; fearless, smart, loyal, run forever."
As a former Blue owner let me also add ...run forever AND bite!
They earned the name Heeler because that's how they herd cattle...nipping at their heels. They are not suitable for urban or suburban households as they will bite children in the course of herding them. Not to mention that their loyalty includes attacking anything or anyone that they judge to be a threat to their herd.
#4
For y'all out there maybe dog shopping AlanC is absolutely correct. These dogs out here are working dogs; cowboy friend has a Red Heeler he won't go work cattle without; takes on bulls and distracts them or motivates stubborn cows with those nips. As a game he would say, "Get'em" to people and that dog would without hesistation start nipping the heels of that person (except for me, she'd just look back at cowboy friend and look, 'but he's my buddy'. Other people, didn't enjoy the game so much).
#6
I've never had a dog I didn't like. They are neat critters. Presently we have a Mountain Cur (hunting dog) and a Shelty-combination (herding dog). Someone once said that if you owned 7 Mountain Curs you could get yourself a bear. All of the dogs we've had just showed up one day. We tried to find who they belonged to without luck and eventually figured they just belonged to us. We had a Shepherd, a Rottweiler, terrier mix, and a bunch of others of the Heinz breed.
BANGALORE, India (AFP) -- An Indian probe landed on the moon on Friday, the Indian Space Research Organisation announced, in a milestone for the country's 45-year-old space programme. The probe touched down on the moon at 8:34pm (1504 GMT), 25 minutes after it was ejected from an unmanned spacecraft orbiting the moon, spokesman S. Satish said.
"During its descent from Chandrayaan-1 an onboard video camera transmitted lunar pictures to the ISRO command centre," Satish said in the southern Indian city of Bangalore where the national space agency is headquartered.
Scientists monitoring the probe cheered as ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair announced the success of the country's first lunar mission, which began on October 22 when a rocket transported Chandrayaan-1 into space. The probe, carrying three instruments and with the Indian flag painted on its outer panes, settled in a crater in the moon's south pole.
Nair said the landing was perfect. "We have now successfully put our national flag on the lunar surface," he told a news conference. "The moon has been very favourable to us and this is a very productive and fruitful mission," he said, and added: "We have also emerged as a low-cost travel agency to space," referring to the mission's 80-million dollar tag.
Chandrayaan-1 is on a two-year orbital mission to provide a detailed map of the mineral, chemical and topographical characteristics of the moon's surface.
Buoyed by its success, ISRO plans to send a second unmanned spacecraft to the moon in 2012 and separately launch satellites to study Mars and Venus.
India started its space programme in 1963, developing its own satellites and launch vehicles to reduce dependence on overseas agencies. It first staked its case for a share of the commercial launch market by sending an Italian satellite into orbit in April last year. In January, it launched an Israeli spy satellite.
India is also hoping the mission will boost its space programme into the same league as regional powerhouses Japan and China. As well as looking to grab a larger slice of the global commercial satellite launch market, India, Japan and China also see their space programmes as an important symbol of their international stature and economic development.
But India still has a long way to go to catch up with China which, together with the United States, Russia and the European Space Agency, is already well established in the commercial launch sector. China's immediate goal is the establishment of a space lab, with Beijing's long-term ambition to develop a rival to the International Space Station, a project involving the US, Russia, Japan, Canada and some European countries.
Japan has also been boosting its space programme and has set a goal of sending an astronaut to the moon by 2020. Japan's first lunar probe, Kaguya, was successfully launched in September last year, releasing two baby satellites to study lunar gravity and other projects.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/14/2008 15:39 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Dude, there sure will be some major teeth-gnashing in pakistan tonight...
The lunar impactor from the Chandrayaan-1 mission today successfully made it to the surface of the moon, impacting inside the Shackleton crater on the moon's south pole. Above is an image transmitted back by the 34 kg box-shaped MIP (Moon Impact Probe) before it slammed into the moon.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/14/2008 17:29 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Nice work, India.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/14/2008 19:04 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Dell tech support could be a new long distance call
Kidnappers have demanded one million pounds for the release of prominent filmmaker and distributor Satesh Anand, who was kidnapped from Karachi on October 20. Law enforcement agencies have so far been unable to ascertain Anand's whereabouts, and sources privy to the investigation told Daily Times Taliban might be involved. Anand's family received two phone calls demanding ransom -- one traced to Quetta and the other to Bannu -- asking them to submit the money in an Egyptian bank account. Anti-Violent Crime Unit SSP Farooq Awan denied the calls had been made and said it was unclear if the case is of abduction for ransom.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
#1
I nearly danced with joy, thinking it was Koffi Anan. Bummer.
BAGHDAD - A U.S. civilian cargo aircraft with between four and six people on board crashed shortly after take-off in western Iraq on Thursday, the U.S. military said, adding that there were no immediate details on casualties.
It was a malfunction. It lost radio contact, then it crashed ... We have no information on the fate of the crew, a U.S. military spokeswoman said. The plane had taken off from an air base near the western city of Falluja.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/14/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
My money's on pilot error, fuel routing mismanagement or pilot error, took on the wrong grade of fuel (and switched tanks just after takeoff as per the checklist).
#2
I look forward to ads they will run during Eid saying the only "real" Mohammed is that guy down the block. I'm sure they are working on it even as we speak. They'll debut in London next year, yah, you betcha.
#4
But for Americans who do not subscribe to a particular faith or who do not believe in God at all this can be a lonely time of year. That is, until now.
#5
"But for Americans who do not subscribe to a particular faith or who do not believe in God at all this can be a lonely time of year."
Why? Have they no imaginations? You don't have to be religious, or Christian, to enjoy Christmas. Just skip the religious aspects of it and go for the Santa/jolly/joy-of-giving part.
I'm not Christian, nor particularly religious, but I love the hell out of Christmas.
People who feel "lonely" during the Christmas season need to get a life. Quit moping around and being so self-centered and try helping the less fortunate - just because it feels good.
Whiney-assed, self-centered, me-me-me people give me a case of the a**. :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/14/2008 15:31 Comments ||
Top||
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Fueling of NASA's space shuttle Endeavour for its planned launch toward the International Space Station tonight at 7:55 p.m. EST (0055 Nov. 15 GMT) is complete.
Engineers finished pumping more than 520,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant into Endeavour's 15-story external tank at 1:31 p.m. EST (1831 GMT) to feed the shuttle's main engines during the ascent to orbit. Astronaut support personnel are due to be testing their communications systems in order to help strap Endeavour's crew into the shuttle later today.
Commanded by veteran space flyer Chris Ferguson, Endeavour's seven-astronaut crew is slated to fly a 15-day mission to deliver vital new life support equipment - including a water recycling system that turns urine into drinkable water - to the station, to prepare the outpost for larger, six-person crews.
The astronauts are due to head out to the launch pad at 4:05 p.m. EST (2105 GMT) today. NASA will begin live TV coverage and webcast of launch day activities at about 2:30 p.m. EST (1930 GMT).
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
