Space Shuttle Flushes the Toilet for All the World To See

Shuttle with water dump. Copyright Clair Perry 

Source:  www.universetoday.com

This picture is from last week; September 9, 2009 to be exact, but I still wanted to share it. I just got in touch with photographer Clair Perry from Prince Edward Island, Canada to get his permission to post the image. No, this is not a comet. Pictured is space shuttle Discovery executing a water dump. The shuttle needed to get rid of excess waste water before landing the next day, and jettisoned it overboard via the waste water dump line, creating a spectacular visual effect as sunlight hit the spraying water. This dump occurred just as the shuttle was flying over North America last week, and lots of people witnessed this "toilet flush." Some reports indicated it was "pristine" water (the shuttle fuel cells' by-product is water) and other reports said it was "waste water and urine" (the Bad Astronomer called it Constellation Urion). Whatever, it was pretty. NASA said this was an unusually large dump, about 150 pounds (68 kg), because new regulations say no shuttle water dumps can take place while docked to the ISS, so as not to contaminate the outdoor experiments on the Kibo lab.

See below for the spectacular entire image, which also includes the nearby ISS creating a streak in the sky. Thanks to Clair Perry for sharing his images.

• Read more and see whole image
  

ZA 002 ( SumbandilaSat) eindelik van die grond af

Source:  Engeneering News

SA satellite finally lifts off 

South Africa’s R26-million Sumbandila satellite (SumbandilaSat) has been successfully launched from the renowned Baikonur Cosmodrome by Russian space agency Roscosmos, on a Soyuz-2 rocket. The launch was at17:55 South African time on Thursday.

The rocket was placed on the launch pad early in the week, but the launch has been subject to two holds, each of 24 hours duration. The first hold was caused by a combination of bad weather and a telemetry glitch.

The second hold was the result of problems in the fuelling process, apparently caused by a leak in a pipeline or hose that needed repair or replacing. Fuelling has to be completed just 20 minutes before lift off, and the launch was aborted just 13 minutes before the scheduled launch time. The Soyuz-2 is powered by a mixture of highly refined kerosene (the fuel) and liquid oxygen as the oxidiser. Liquid oxygen has to be kept at a temperature of – 183˚ C or below. As it evaporates very easily, it cannot be stored for long.

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Science Unlimited se ekspo in Pietermaritzburg

Science Unlimited het weer in Pietermaritzburg hulle jaarlikse ekspo gehou en meer as 22000 leerders en onderwysers het dit bygewoon.

Alhoewel die uitstallings agv die huidige ekonomie nie soos ander jare was nie, was die aanbiedings weer eens ‘n sukses.

Om in te skakel met die IYA2009 het ek ‘n multimedia aanbieding gedoen oor ons eie sonnestelsel. Oor die drie dae wat die expo gehou is, in die laatste week van Augustus, het 1800+ leerders my aanbiedings bygewoon wat die meeste nog is in vergelyking met die ander Science Unlimited waar ek aanbiedings gedoen het.

Drie expo’s per jaar word gehou. Een in Pretoria, een in Stellenbosch en in Pietermaritzburg. Besoek gerus hulle web blad vir meer agtergrond informasie. www.scienceunlimited.co.za

Jacques van Delft
Direkteur: ASSA Solar-afdeling

Klubaand vir ASSA Bfn-klublede

Wie: Lede van ASSA Bloemfontein
Praktiese sessie: Riglyne om astrosketse te teken
Plek: Oppikoppi - Boyden-sterrewag.
Datum: 19 September, Saterdag
Tyd: 16:30 vir 17:00
Aanbieder: Hannes Pieterse

• Meer inligting
  

Watch Discovery "drops" in and lands.

There's nothing prettier than watching the space shuttle land. Sure, it drops like a rock, a piano, a safe; but when the vehicle makes the final turn and lines up with the runway, and then the commander sticks the landing like Rick Sturckow did tonight, it's a work of art. If you missed the landing in real time, here's a great video of Discovery's landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California, at 5:53 PDT on Friday, ending the 14-day mission to the International Space Station.

• Click to watch Discovery  "drop" in and land.
  

Just How Good is the "New" Hubble? Let's Compare

Hubble images of the Omega Centauri starfield from 2002, left, and from 2009, right.

"This marks a new beginning for Hubble," said Ed Weiler, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate at today's press briefing at NASA Headquarters to showcase the images from Hubble following Servicing Mission 4. "The telescope was given an extreme makeover and is now significantly more powerful than ever — well equipped to last well into the next decade."

See more comparisons and read article

Source: Universe Today

 More articles to read:

• New pictures show healthy Hubble is back in action
  
  
• Images from Refurbished Hubble
  
  

Top 10 (or so) Images from STS-128

Christer Fugelsang during the third EVA of STS-128. Credit: NASA

View the rest of the top 10...

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NASA 747 pilot shares experience carrying the space shuttle

"NASA 747 pilot shares experience carrying the space shuttle
Read the detailed experience of the NASA pilot who flew the 747 carrying the space shuttle ATLANTIS back to the KENNEDY SPACE CENTER. A bit lengthy, but trust me... worth every second reading! You will feel that you were there!!! Very good narrative of what it was like!

• Read detailed experience and also the comments at the bottom.
  (Never let facts interfere with a good story.)

Are Sunspots Disappearing

by Dr. Tony Phillips for NASA Science News
Huntsville AL (SPX) Sep 04, 2009

The sun is in the pits of the deepest solar minimum in nearly a century. Weeks and sometimes whole months go by without even a single tiny sunspot. The quiet has dragged out for more than two years, prompting some observers to wonder, are sunspots disappearing?

• Read more...

Source: SPACE DAILY

September is Saturnus sonder sy ringe

Composite image of Saturn over 6 years. Credit: Alan Friedman
Kliek op skakel en kyk na die animasie onder aan die blad.

Groete
Hannes Pieterse