News and other tidbits that Chad Cloman finds interesting enough to share
I’ve always wondered just how accurate Hollywood is in its depiction of people exposed to the vacuum of space. The short answer is that you have about 10 seconds of lucid thought/action, and you can survive if pressurized oxygen is restored within about two minutes. And, no, you don’t explode.
Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin hit a golf ball from the International Space Station. The whole spacewalk was plagued with problems, including his shot, which sliced to the right.
Link: http://www.physorg.com/…
This video shows astronauts experimenting with a sphere of freestanding water.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/…
(via digg)
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has formally defined what is and what is not a planet, and Pluto lost out. We now have 8 planets and 4 “dwarf planets” (of which Pluto is one). But only a small number of the IAU’s members actually voted, and there is a backlash in the works.
Scale models showing the relative sizes of the planets and the sun. It’s eye-opening when seen this way.
Russia is planning to have an active moonbase and mining facility by 2020. In light of China and Japan’s efforts, I think we might actually make it back to the moon before I hit retirement age.
This site has a large collection of free wallpaper-sized images related to space and space exploration. Some of the pictures are really good.
The head of NASA publicly states that the space shuttle and the international space station were mistakes:
Link: http://www.usatoday.com/…
I personally foresee a space elevator becoming the vehicle of choice for getting into low-earth orbit. Once the purview of science fiction, the technology for creating one is almost in place. Expect to hear more about this in the coming years.
Update (9/30/2005): Apparently Congress disagrees.
