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ISS Virtual Tour

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Re: ISS Virtual Tour

#51

Post by [deleted] »

arrrg wrote: post #35
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...)

If you zoom in on the images you can see why they have so many cameras: loads of dead pixels everywhere. They don’t last forever up there because of the increased radiation. I would assume they don’t really fly stuff like still functioning cameras with loads of dead pixels back. (Even some old iPad seems to get good use as a wall clock next to the dining table.) Also, if I remember correctly (from some interview with…

[deleted]

Re: ISS Virtual Tour

#52

Post by rtkwe »

Kiro wrote: post #6
gii2 wrote: post #2

Did you noticed that there are only ThinkPads there? It is the only laptop certified to work on ISS.

What are the requirements?

There's a lot that goes into space worthiness rating even beyond the technical spec requirements. There's probably a bid request available for when they were first considered too. No idea where to start hunting that down though.

There was a really good article[0] (plus a video talk I can't find) on a team that modified an Android phone to go to space to interface with the SPHERES mini satellite experiments. A short list of the things they had to do includes:

- No Lithium Ion battery, it takes 2+ years to get a LIon battery certified for the ISS

- Had to put a screen protector on, broken glass screen becomes an inhalation hazard in zero G, BUT many materials are considered flammable in the high oxygen environment on station.

- Had to lobotomize the Wifi and cellular chips to ensure they'd never turn on. Just removing the software that would control and allow them to turn on wasn't enough.

In addition to everything in the article they have to worry about off gassing from all the various materials that make up anything sent to space.

[0] http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/03/how-nasa-got-an-andro...

Re: ISS Virtual Tour

#53

Post by aurelian15 »

This entire tour is interesting and enjoyable! Just spent an entire evening -- almost three hours -- looking around and watching the videos. Many kudos to Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti for her very concise explanations and demonstrations.

The panoramas are of very high quality (except for the inevitable dead pixels). It is nice to see all the Ethernet cables, electrical outlets, stopwatches, valves, tools or just the video projector connected via VGA to a notebook in Node 1, just before you fly into the Russian module. And yes, there is a striking contrast between the Russian and the US/European/Japanese modules.

I especially recommend watching the time-lapse video shot by Alexander Gerst:

http://wsn.spaceflight.esa.int/videos/F_2014/F_Blue_Dot/1417...

Edit:

Btw. executing the following code in the JS console

  "{" + pano.getCurrentNode() + "}\",\"" + pano.getPan() + "/" + pano.getTilt() + "/" + pano.getFov()
gives you a string encoding the current position. You can restore that position by copy and pasting it into the "pano.openURL()" method. Examples:

  pano.openUrl("{node5}","216.49016925709486/38.116922404005344/47.440801242792304") // The IMAX...
  pano.openUrl("{node5}","288.6799234893748/17.169120787478608/17.33030268127927") // ...and its CF cards

Re: ISS Virtual Tour

#54

Post by jefurii »

jefurii wrote: post #47

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?

aurelian15 answered my question in another thread. Thanks aurelian15!

Re: ISS Virtual Tour

#55

Post by atomlib »

wlesieutre wrote: post #29
gii2 wrote: post #2

Did you noticed that there are only ThinkPads there? It is the only laptop certified to work on ISS.

More info here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2013/12/05/how-are-laptops...

Why not link the original answer on Quora? https://www.quora.com/How-are-laptops-used-on-the-Internatio...
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