Monday, February 15, 2010

Welcome To The International Space Station!


The International Space Station (ISS) is an internationally developed research facility, which is being assembled in low Earth orbit. On-orbit construction of the station began in 1998 and is scheduled for completion by 2011. The station will remain in operation until at least 2015, and likely 2020.

With a greater mass than that of any previous space station, the ISS can be seen from the Earth with the naked eye, and, as of 2010, is the largest artificial satellite orbiting the Earth.

The ISS serves as a research laboratory that has a microgravity environment in which crews conduct experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy and meteorology.

The station has a unique environment for the testing of the spacecraft systems that will be required for missions to the Moon and Mars. The ISS is operated by Expedition crews, and has been continuously staffed since November 2000—an uninterrupted human presence in space for the past nine years.

The ISS is a synthesis of several space station projects that includes the American Freedom, the Soviet/Russian Mir-2, the European Columbus and the Japanese Kibō. Budget constraints led to the merger of these projects into a single multi-national programme.

The ISS project began in 1994 with the Shuttle-Mir programme, and the first module of the station, Zarya, was launched in 1998 by Russia. Assembly continues, as pressurised modules, external trusses and other components are launched by American space shuttles, Russian Proton rockets and Russian Soyuz rockets.

As of November 2009, the station consisted of 11 pressurised modules and an extensive integrated truss structure (ITS). Power is provided by 16 solar arrays mounted on the external truss, in addition to four smaller arrays on the Russian modules.

The station is maintained at an orbit between 278 km (173 mi) and 460 km (286 mi) altitude, and travels at an average speed of 27,724 km/h (17,227 mph), completing 15.7 orbits per day.

Operated as a joint project between the five participant space agencies, the station's sections are controlled by mission control centres on the ground operated by the American National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Russian Federal Space Agency (RKA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the European Space Agency (ESA).

The ownership and use of the space station is established in intergovernmental treaties and agreements that allow the Russian Federation to retain full ownership of its own modules, with the remainder of the station allocated between the other international partners.

The cost of the station has been estimated by ESA as €100 billion over 30 years, and, although estimates range from 35 billion dollars to 160 billion dollars, the ISS is believed to be the most expensive object ever constructed. The financing, research capabilities and technical design of the ISS programme have been criticised because of the high cost.

The station is serviced by Soyuz spacecraft, Progress spacecraft, space shuttles, the Automated Transfer Vehicle and the H-II Transfer Vehicle, and has been visited by astronauts and cosmonauts from 15 different nations.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

3D Virtual World Shared Offices in Second Life


deal for the Self-Employed or for people who simply Work from Home, our virutal shared office facilities allow members who miss the "good old days" of working in a real office (they just don't miss the commute!) to rent a desk by the week in Second Life. Here you can share your working day with other, like minded people - chat, share websites, view YouTube videos or just listen to the radio together, all in an enclosed, secure virtual environment!

Friday, February 05, 2010

Thursday, February 04, 2010

MBC News 2-4-2010


The team talks about Linden Lab's acquisition of the social networking site Avatars United and more on this weeks news. Via MBC.




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Virtual Worlds Overview Video


A short video highlighting the potential power of virtual worlds for the government. From Hackshaven.




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Post to Monitor 02/04/2010 (p.m.)


Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Post to Monitor 02/04/2010 (a.m.)


Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Pompeii and The Crystal Palace


Saffia & Elrik get a double shot of history in this episode with Gwendoline Beningborough and Lucien Kranfel as they explore the Crystal Palace project created by Bristol University researchers. From Treet TV.




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Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Post to Monitor 02/03/2010 (p.m.)


Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Post to Monitor 02/03/2010 (a.m.)


Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Monday, February 01, 2010

Helping Haiti: search & rescue team comments


John Mahon, pilot with UK's Astraeus, interviews members of the UK search and rescue team on their way back to the UK. Known in Second Life as Ham Rambler, he has been providing regular updates on his Haiti earthquake relief experiences on Facebook.




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