Ennev's Tech Journal

Random Tech Stuff for the geek in you

NASA’s Scrubbed Escape Pod Glides to New Home

To the future and …….
…… The museum?
NASA’s Scrubbed Escape Pod Glides to New Home
NASA’s cute, wingless escape pod for the International Space Station, which was in development until 2002, finally has a home. Sadly, it’s not in space, but in Ashland, Nebraska at the Strategic Air and Space Museum.
posted by Ennev in From a mobile location,Science,Space and have No Comments

Canadian astronaut Thirsk bound for International Space Station

That’s going to be interesting!

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/05/22/space-robert-thirsk-space-station-astronaut.html?ref=rss

Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk is a member of a six-person crew that
will live on the International Space Station for six months. On May
27, he and two other crewmates are scheduled to launch from Kazhakstan
to join the other three already aboard the station.

posted by Ennev in From a mobile location,Space and have No Comments

Water

Thirsty?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090520/ap_on_sc/us_space_urine

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We need more nuke. Please

Why do I feel we are going backward sometime!

http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/b5zKGZ73loo/nasa-running-out-of-fuel-for-deep-space-missions-because-nobody-makes-nukes-anymore

Supplies of NASA’s go-to fuel for space exploration , plutonium-238, are dwindling. The U.S. stopped making it 20 years ago and now NASA’s Russian suppliers are running out after production shut down. The problem? Nobody makes nukes anymore. Deep space probes beyond Jupiter can’t use solar power because they’re too far from the sun. So they rely on a certain type of plutonium, plutonium-238. It powers these spacecraft with the heat of its natural decay. But plutonium-238 isn’t found in nature; it’s a byproduct of nuclear weaponry. So where can NASA turn to in order to get the 11lbs of plutonium it needs each year? Fortunately, the Department of Energy has come to the rescue and decided to spend the $150 million or so it would take to re-start production. Man, it feels like the Cold War all over again. [ Yahoo ]

posted by Ennev in From a mobile location,Science and have No Comments