International Space Station

Tao_Rider

This link is to an incredible time line animation of the International Space Station. It shows the module attachments, the dates, and the international partners involved in each segment.

http://www.tietronix.com/anim/MovieP...bly640x360.swf

I was thinking about building in space, no gravity to work with and against, plus hundreds other factors we can't even imagine. I shared this thought with a good friend, he looked thoughtfully and said, "can you imagine how far you could shoot a framing gun would shoot a nail?" I laughed and said "yeah, and the illegal alien issue would have a whole new context!"

So how about contributing to the "Top Ten Observations from Earth Bound Contractors About building the International Space Station List". Maybe we can get Letterman to read it on the air.

Mike

CatAlii

I work as a software engineer on the Space Shuttle program so this is near and dear to my heart . It's very different from what I do for our construction company, that's for sure!

Dropping your "hammer" would cause a completely different degree of panic while assembling the ISS vs. a house therefore your equipment is attached to you. Did you know that the astronauts on the station have to keep track of thousands of loose items on the ISS via little electronic tags with transmitters. Loosing something on the Station isn't quite the same as not remembering where you set down your keys on Earth.

Imagine if your trash pickup vehicle was the Space Shuttle? No bi-weekly garbage routes in space!

Did you know that if two un-coated pieces of metal come in contact in space they will stick together permanently? Some folks call this "cold welding".

And I don't think too many of us have to worry about micrometeoroids hitting us while we're framing a house.

A few other factoids and comparisions:
8 miles of wire connect the power system
100K+ crew size
Building in space is like trying to change a spark plug wearing roller skates and two pairs of ski gloves with all your tools tethered to your body.
"Living and working on the ISS is like building one room of a house, moving in a family of three and asking them to finish building the house while working full time from home."-courtesy of Boeing

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Cathy

Michalak Construction / MCC on Facebook / MCC on Twitter / MCC on Google+

JamesNLA

For what it's worth, I am a graduate of Space Camp...Huntsville AL.
My own little factoids for "yall"!
The Multi Access Trainer (or MAT) is a uncontrollable device, which is sopposed to simulate tumbling out of control in space.

The SRB fuel (solid rocket booster) that powers the shuttle and its fuel tank (crap design -- uhem) has the exact same feel and color of your standard #2 pencil eraser. When a small piece of it is lit, it is similar to a box or sparklers being lit all at once.

I must say the absolute coolest thing I remember from that adventure (aside from whipping everyones ass in model rockets) was the shuttles tiles. Man, I was scared sh*tless when I was the only one to volunteer to hold a tile while one of the instructors held a lit blow torch. The tile was about 3"thick or so and I could not feel one degree of difference when he had this tile (white one) glowing on my hand.

A year after returning, I started taking flight lessons. Now I am a plumber with a PPL ( private pilots license)....still working on my instrument rating.
I also have a DVR with the last 2 years worth of shuttle launches and return trips in high defination

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"....And then we all switch places when I ring the bell"
-Adrock

genecarp

caulking in space?
plumb bob?

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