ISS Virtual Tour • Hacker News Board

Re: ISS Virtual Tour

#41

Post by robryk » Thu, Sep 03, 2015, 5:22 PM UTC

sudhirj wrote: post #39

robryk wrote: post #38

It's interesting to see some differences between the US-and-everyone-else and Russian part. One that was most striking to me is cabling and piping between modules: on the Russian side, the pipes go through the hatches, which complicates closing the hatches but makes the cables and pipes easier to access/repair and makes it easier to install new ones. On the other side, there are no pipes or cables going through hatch…

Probably stands for Habitat. I could see bunks anywhere else. I doubt the astronauts want to show living quarters. Not much privacy as it is.

I mean the hatch in the middle of Unity's floor. It appears to have space on the other side and is closed.

They do show living quarters in Node 2 -- there is even a video of the interior.

Re: ISS Virtual Tour

#42

Post by jsingleton » Thu, Sep 03, 2015, 5:37 PM UTC

ourmandave wrote: post #11

If you're an early riser this site will tell you when you can watch ISS fly over. http://iss.astroviewer.net/observation.php

Nice. I remember using that to see the ISS over London on Christmas last year. Great sight.

http://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2014/12/16/space-station-to-...

Re: ISS Virtual Tour

#43

Post by jsingleton » Thu, Sep 03, 2015, 5:42 PM UTC

torgoguys wrote: post #32

Very cool! 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...)

There'll be more when they send up some Raspberry Pis later this year. Inside metal flight cases on a stick in the Columbus module.

They also note that:

  The most common laptop on the ISS is the IBM Thinkpad T61P 
  (circa 2007 from before Lenovo acquired them...

https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/astro-pi-mission-update-5-f...

Re: ISS Virtual Tour

#44

Post by jsingleton » Thu, Sep 03, 2015, 5:48 PM UTC

sandyarmstrong wrote: post #22

This is awesome. If you'd like a live video tour, I recently sat down with my 5 year old to watch a wonderful video from NASA [0]. 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. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doN4t5NKW-k

The coolest video I found on the ESA tour is this time-lapse one from the Cupola. Absolutely stunning.

http://wsn.spaceflight.esa.int/php/download.php?fn=/videos/F...

Re: ISS Virtual Tour

#45

Post by jefurii » Thu, Sep 03, 2015, 6:06 PM UTC

ourmandave wrote: post #11

If you're an early riser this site will tell you when you can watch ISS fly over. http://iss.astroviewer.net/observation.php

There's also SpotTheStation[1]. You can sign up to receive emails whenever the station is scheduled to pass over your location.

[1] http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/

Re: ISS Virtual Tour

#46

Post by throw7 » Thu, Sep 03, 2015, 6:16 PM UTC

Had to laugh about the tools on board... both a set of metric and english. :D And apparently the english set are used more often (not sure what to take away from that... heh)

Re: ISS Virtual Tour

#47

Post by jefurii » Thu, Sep 03, 2015, 6:17 PM UTC

I wish there was a way to link to things in this by "room", angle, and zoom level.

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?

Re: ISS Virtual Tour

#48

Post by Ono-Sendai » Thu, Sep 03, 2015, 6:22 PM UTC

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #25

I love the disconnect between science fiction and reality. There's no beautiful Kubrick-esque set design here. The whole thing just looks like someone's garage, full of nick-nacks, tools, and little projects. It just a giant mancave, really. This is why I'm a little bored with LEO space exploration. I can't wait for the SLS to go live and try something that isn't this. That said, I would love to see a ISS-like struct…

There's also more realistic / near-future sci-fi, see for example Neal Stephenson's excellent 'Seven Eves', which I recommend for anyone interested in spaceflight.

Re: ISS Virtual Tour

#49

Post by jefurii » Thu, Sep 03, 2015, 6:28 PM UTC

After a bit of digging, I foudn that the wall behind the cluster of Thinkpads in the Columbus module is made up of European Drawer Rack modules[0] which are basically 19in racks. NASA has its own International Standard Payload Rack (ISPR) module system[1]. It would be interesting to see some articles on the power and data infrastructure of the station.

[0] http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Columbus...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Payload...

Re: ISS Virtual Tour

#50

Post by drzaiusapelord » Thu, Sep 03, 2015, 6:49 PM UTC

arrrg wrote: post #36

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #25

I love the disconnect between science fiction and reality. There's no beautiful Kubrick-esque set design here. The whole thing just looks like someone's garage, full of nick-nacks, tools, and little projects. It just a giant mancave, really. This is why I'm a little bored with LEO space exploration. I can't wait for the SLS to go live and try something that isn't this. That said, I would love to see a ISS-like struct…

The mundanity is what makes it real and also very cool to me. I don’t think manned space exploration will look any different in the future … until maybe it starts looking mundane in other ways (think mundanity of commercial air travel). Even if we do go to Mars or other places. LEO has little to do with that … and SLS will look just the same on the inside.

Good point. I guess what I was trying to express that just floating in LEO is fairly boring. My example of a moon base would be much more thrilling, especially if it could serve as a dark-side radio telescope or even as a space-port for deep launches.

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.