willith - Slashdot User

Submission + - Confirmed: F-1 rocket engine salvaged by Amazon's Bezos is from Apollo 11 (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by willith on Friday July 19, 2013 @01:44PM

willith writes: The folks at Bezos Expeditions have confirmed that faintly visible serial numbers on one of the large engine components they lifted from three miles below the ocean's surface match the serial number of F-1 engine F-6044, which flew in the center position on Saturn V number SA-506—Apollo 11. With the 44th anniversary of the first lunar landing coming up tomorrow, the confirmation comes at an auspicious time. The F-1 engine remains to this day the largest single-chamber liquid fueled engine ever produced—although NASA is considering using a newer uprated design designated as the F-1B to help boost future heavy-lift rockets into orbit.

Submission + - How NASA steers the Int'l Space Station around asteroids & other debris (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by willith on Thursday July 04, 2013 @07:08PM

willith writes: I got to sit down with ISS TOPO Flight Controller Josh Parris at the Houston Mission Control Center and talk about how NASA steers all 400 tons of the International Space Station around potential collisions, or "conjunctions," in NASA-parlance. The TOPO controller, with assistance from USSTRATCOM's big radars, keeps track of every object that will pass within a "pizza-box"-shaped 50km x 50km x 4km perimeter around the ISS. Actually moving the station is done with a combination of large control moment gyros and thrusters on both the Zvezda module and visiting vehicles. It's a surprisingly complex operation!

Submission + - Swimming with spacemen in NASA's giant NBL pool (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by

willith

on Monday March 04, 2013 @10:28AM

willith writes: "I spent two days at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston, watching astronauts dive and getting a thorough tour of the facility. The largest indoor pool in the world contains 6.2M gallons of water and is filled with life-size replicas of International Space Station modules (though at 202'x101' and 40' deep, it isn't nearly enough to hold the entire station). Every spacewalk requires a huge amount of rehearsal, and that rehearsal is done right here in this pool. I talk at length with divers, astronauts, test coordinators, and test directors about how the facility works and what it takes to train folks to work in spacesuits. I also get to talk about the NBL's commercial future, and what's next for the big pool. Plus, lots and lots of pictures!"

Submission + - Behind the scenes at NASA's Mission Control Center (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by

willith

on Wednesday October 31, 2012 @10:20PM

willith writes: "I was recently given the opportunity to spend several hours on the floor of Historic Mission Operations Control Room #2, at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. MOCR2 was used to control almost manned Gemini and Apollo mission, including Apollo 11 & 13. More, my tour guide was none other than famous Apollo mission controller Sy Liebergot, one of the fellows behind the solution that saved Apollo 13. I go in-depth on the role of the flight controller during Apollo, and focus on how and why Mission Control functioned, and I spend a lot of time talking about the consoles and how they worked. The feature includes a ton of anecdotes and stories from Mr. Liebergot about mission control in general, and about what he did during Apollo 12 & 13 specifically. I also put together a supplemental report that goes through each and every station and describes their Apollo-era layout. I wrote this story to be the kind of thing I'd always wanted to read, but could never find online. There are also lots and lots of pictures of MOCR2!"

Submission + - NASA names space station treadmill after Colbert (sfgate.com)

Submitted by

willith

on Tuesday April 14, 2009 @11:01PM

willith writes: "Looks like the SF Chronicle is jumping the gun by an hour or so, but they've got an AP article up detailing the results of the International Space Station Node 3 naming contest (previously on Slashdot). Comedian and fake-pundit Stephen Colbert conducted a bombastic write-in campaign and repeatedly urged his show's fan base (the "Colbert Nation") to stuff the ballot box with his name, which resulted in "Colbert" coming in first in the write-in contest with almost a quarter-million votes. Although the Node 3 component will not be named "Colbert"--NASA has instead chosen to call it "Tranquility"--one of the Node 3 components will bear the honor: the second ISS treadmill, which will be installed in Node 3, will be named the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill. The formal announcement will be made on air tonight at 22:30 EDT on the Colbert Report on Comedy Central by astronaut Sunita Williams."

Submission + - Robert Jordan dies (dragonmount.com)

Submitted by

willith

on Sunday September 16, 2007 @10:31PM

willith writes: "James Oliver Rigney Jr, author of the long-running fantasy series The Wheel of Time and better known to millions of fans by the pen name Robert Jordan, died on 16 Sept 2007 from cardiac amyloidosis. Jordan announced he had been diagnosed with the disease in March 2006 and vowed to beat the odds, but determination and gumption sometimes just aren't enough in the face of a disease with a median survival time of just over two years. Jordan was in the process of writing the twelfth and final book in the Wheel of Time series, A Memory of Light, but the book was not slated for release until 2009 and is still incomplete. While there is hope that the book will still be finished from Jordan's notes, this is devastating news to all of us who have been reading the series since 1990."

Submission + - iPhone release date confirmed for 29 June (apple.com)

Submitted by

willith

on Sunday June 03, 2007 @09:37PM

willith writes: "Apple has placed three iPhone commercials on their web site today, and each of them end with a tag: "Coming June 29". This puts to rest the question of when the thing will hit the streets, but there are still worries about allocation — some sites are reporting that the allocation of iPhones to Cingular/AT&T stores will be relatively tight. The adverts do however shed light on another previously-unanswered question — the iPhone will only be available with a new two-year contract."

Submission + - Guitar Hero 2 complete official set list released

Submitted by

willith

on Tuesday October 10, 2006 @12:17PM

willith writes: "IGN has posted the official list, straight from RedOctane, of the 40 licensed tracks in Guitar Hero 2. There's a great mix of songs, running the list from "stuff my parents like" (Allman Brothers) to "music to kill people by" (Megadeth). You can get an early start with the GH2 playable demo in this month's Official Playstation Magazine, which contains four songs (Strutter, You Really Got Me, YYZ, and Shout at the Devil). For those about to rock, we salute you!"

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