What happens when you wring out a washcloth in space [video] • Hacker News Board

Re: What happens when you wring out a washcloth in space [video]

#101

Post by sigkill » Sat, Apr 20, 2013, 7:35 AM UTC

corin_ wrote: post #48

adimitrov wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It might (this is conjecture) also just be because they're not wearing any makeup. Absolutely everybody you see on TV is wearing tons of makeup, because cameras paired with artificial flourescent spotlight just seem to exaggerate this nasty shiny effect.

TV makeup is split into two types, 1) getting people looking good (same reason people wear makeup any time - but if you're being filmed, more people will see you, so you care more) 2) preventing the shine While it's true that the lighting often doesn't help, the biggest problem is that the lighting can produce a lot of heat, so it's actually the lights making people sweat, not just making sweat show up more. Not sure…

This leads to another question. Do they (in space) have standard 50Hz/60Hz CFLs? That might be unsafe because of the flicker, right?

Re: What happens when you wring out a washcloth in space [video]

#102

Post by TeMPOraL » Sat, Apr 20, 2013, 8:09 AM UTC

NegativeK wrote: post #87

DanBC wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alexandr Laveikin (cosmonaut) spent time on the Mir (Мир) spacestation in 1987. He said it was "very noisy, very hot." (This is from 'Packing for Mars' by Mary Roach) I guess heat conduction is difficult if your spacecraft is in a vacuum.

> I guess heat conduction is difficult if your spacecraft is in a vacuum. Very much so. Search for "heat" in this SVG and you'll see the giant accordion radiators: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Iss027e03... When the Space Shuttle was in orbit, it kept its giant bay doors open to expose its radiators. If you'd like, I can dig up some extensive articlage written for hard sci-fi writers about dealin…

Do dig up those articles please, I'd be interested.

Re: What happens when you wring out a washcloth in space [video]

#103

Post by TeMPOraL » Sat, Apr 20, 2013, 9:01 AM UTC

noselasd wrote: post #58

kaybe wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

huh. let me cite a speech I heard recently (celebration of 10 years of columbus module in space).. (approximately, it's from my mind) .. "The ISS hat two mission objectives, (I) to bring the international community together for collaboration and friendship - this has been accomplished very well, and (II) to do some meaningful science up there, which has not been accomplished at all as of yet. Thus, it's your job to i…

Well, there's a lot of science done at the ISS. They're usually running between 100-150 "experiments" at any given time. Most of these do meaningful science. As we all should know, research and science doesn't always lead to something tangible though, but even in the cases it doesn't, it tells a lesson. Wikipedia lists some of them, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_research_on_the_Inte... , and just few weeks…

RE ISS and dark matter, I just accidentally stumbled into this:

http://www.math.columbia.edu/~woit/wordpress/?p=5736

Re: What happens when you wring out a washcloth in space [video]

#104

Post by dredmorbius » Sat, Apr 20, 2013, 10:07 AM UTC

sksksk wrote: post #84

eridius wrote: post #3

I thought just watching the microphone float in front of him was interesting enough. I was totally not prepared for the awesomeness of the wrung-out washcloth.

I always wonder, if you spend a length of time in space, you must get used to being able to leave an object in mid air, go do something, and go back and pick it up later. When astronauts come back to earth, do they have some adjusting period where they keep dropping items on the floor because they forget about gravity?

I recall one astronaut addressing this. He'd been on several Shuttle / ISS missions. After his first return to Earth, he was sleeping and, as I recall, his son had climbed into bed with the astronaut and his wife. The astronaut tried to reposition his son by simply pushing him away and releasing him, which didn't work so well.

After multiple trips, his adaptation to zero-g / full-g became much more automatic.

Similar, animals used in zero-g experiments seem to adapt to multiple trips. A female mouse learned how to scoot her infants in zero-g.

One article touching on some of this (though I'm remembering another): http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/adapting-to-eart...

Re: What happens when you wring out a washcloth in space [video]

#105

Post by dsuth » Sat, Apr 20, 2013, 11:27 AM UTC

guybrushT wrote: post #10

Q. What is this video about? A. Its about: Magic. - a cloth unravelling out of a hockey puck - water turning to jello - things and people suspended in air - water flowing against gravity - happening somewhere in space Magical. An neat little experiment proposed by 2 highschoolers!

It still trips me out that we can get video feeds... _from space_

Re: What happens when you wring out a washcloth in space [video]

#106

Post by NegativeK » Sat, Apr 20, 2013, 3:34 PM UTC

TeMPOraL wrote: post #102

NegativeK wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I guess heat conduction is difficult if your spacecraft is in a vacuum. Very much so. Search for "heat" in this SVG and you'll see the giant accordion radiators: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Iss027e03... When the Space Shuttle was in orbit, it kept its giant bay doors open to expose its radiators. If you'd like, I can dig up some extensive articlage written for hard sci-fi writers about dealin…

Do dig up those articles please, I'd be interested.

Here's the one with lots of basic math around the subject:

* http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/basicdesign.php...

These next two are in regards to dealing with heat in space warfare:

* http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/spacewarship.ph...

* http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/spacewardefense...

Re: What happens when you wring out a washcloth in space [video]

#107

Post by ufmace » Sat, Apr 20, 2013, 8:34 PM UTC

ygra wrote: post #6

kvprashant wrote: post #5

There were so many wires and electronics in the background and the water was floating everywhere! Nothing to worry?

Someone in the comments on that site posted the following video that details how they clean up spills: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hj3GnPRsJ4 In short: Tissues of various sizes which can then be hanged somewhere and evaporate the water.

Interesting... I was just wondering that after seeing the first video - yeah, that's cool, but what are they going to do now with a soaking washcloth and drops of water floating around all over the place?

Re: What happens when you wring out a washcloth in space [video]

#108

Post by Zecc » Sat, Apr 20, 2013, 10:47 PM UTC

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #91

jere wrote: post #36

A similar phenomenon makes it dangerous to sleep without proper ventilation: >It is important that crew accommodations be well ventilated; otherwise, astronauts can wake up oxygen-deprived and gasping for air, because a bubble of their own exhaled carbon dioxide has formed around their heads. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station#Cre...

My first thought on reading "crew quarters must be well ventilated" was - like, opening the windows? Then I remembered. Luckily I am not on safety critical work for NASA

When I read "It is important that crew accommodations be well ventilated; otherwise, astronauts can wake up ..." my mind completed with "asphyxiating in a vacuum".

Re: What happens when you wring out a washcloth in space [video]

#109

Post by tomflack » Sun, Apr 21, 2013, 2:15 AM UTC

Inebas wrote: post #51

Wow! Very interesting stuff but every time I see something interesting, I have more questions than answers. For example, what happens to the fluid in your body? If it floats around, won't we die???

Which fluids are you talking about specifically? I've very little knowledge of anatomy but I think most of the liquids in our body are in "closed-loop" pressurised systems, with nowhere for the fluid to "go" whilst being forced in to motion by our muscles.

Re: What happens when you wring out a washcloth in space [video]

#110

Post by TeMPOraL » Sun, Apr 21, 2013, 8:15 AM UTC

NegativeK wrote: post #106

TeMPOraL wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do dig up those articles please, I'd be interested.

Here's the one with lots of basic math around the subject: * http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/basicdesign.php... These next two are in regards to dealing with heat in space warfare: * http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/spacewarship.ph... * http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/spacewardefense...

Thanks! Awesome stuff.