questions about space and the iss i'd like answered

[science_newb]

<p>there's a few things that i'd like someone who's knowledgeable to answer for me (i would really appreciate it)</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>1. how cold the temperature in space when the astronauts are out side of the iss</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>2. i remember reading on wikipedia that the iss moves at about 14,000 something mph, when the astronauts are working outside on the shuttle, how can they work at that speed ?</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>3. who's controlling the iss when it circling the earth (is there a pilot ?)</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>4. i know there's space junk in space, does the iss ever collide with them, if so would it be to bad or is it like some throwing a rock at a car</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>5. is there terbulance in space and inside the iss</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>6. do other countries astronauts who have capsules on the iss talk with other astronauts from different countries, or is it very secluded</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>7. is it only testing that goes on in space ?, also what about garbage that collects on the iss is it tossed out into space ?</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>sorry for so many questions, i'm just curious about all this stuff&nbsp;</p>

 

[DrRocket]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>there's a few things that i'd like someone who's knowledgeable to answer for me (i would really appreciate it)&nbsp;1. how cold the temperature in space when the astronauts are out side of the iss</DIV></p><p>Temperature is&nbsp;essentially the average kinetic energy of the molecules of a substance, in thermodynamics equilibrium.&nbsp; In particular the concept of temperature requires a large number of molecules to have any meaning.</p><p>Outside the ISS there is essentially a vacuum.&nbsp; A vacuum doesn't really have a temperature, because there are no molecules.</p><p>In a vacuum all heat transfer is by means of radiation.&nbsp; So outside the space station an astronaut would receive some thermal radiation&nbsp;from the Earth and some from the Sun, depending on what might be shading him and a miniscule amount from the stars and space.&nbsp; He in turn would re-radiate to the Earth, the Sun, the stars and deep space.&nbsp;&nbsp;For purposes of that re-radiation the most important receiver is deep space.&nbsp;&nbsp;Deep space can be&nbsp;considered as a black body at 2.73 K.&nbsp; That is very cold.&nbsp;</p><p>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>2. i remember reading on wikipedia that the iss moves at about 14,000 something mph, when the astronauts are working outside on the shuttle, how can they work at that speed ?</DIV></p><p>The speed that you are quoting is the speed of the ISS relative to the Earth (I have not checked your numbers but that sounds reasonable).&nbsp; Relative to the ISS itself the astronauts are essentially stationary.&nbsp; Since speed is relative, they can work on the ISS without any sensation of speed at all.</p><p>In fact both the astronauts and the ISS are in freefall around the Earth.&nbsp; That is what an orbit really is, a state of perpetual falling.&nbsp; It is simply that the velocity of the ISS and the astronauts is such that instead of falling back and hitting the ground, they literally fall around the Earth and never hit the ground.&nbsp; That is also why they have the sensation of being weightless -- just like you do on a roller coaster except that they never stop falling.</p><p>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>3. who's controlling the iss when it circling the earth (is there a pilot ?)</DIV></p><p>No pilot and no guidance are necessary.&nbsp; The ISS simply continues to fall in its orbit.</p><p>There is slight exception to what I said.&nbsp; There are a few molecules in space (nothing is perfect vacuum) and the ISS does experience a very very small drag, that slows it down slightly.&nbsp; So if needed&nbsp;it gets a small boost.</p><p>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>4. i know there's space junk in space, does the iss ever collide with them, if so would it be to bad or is it like some throwing a rock at a car</DIV></p><p>I don't know the details, maybe Shuttleguy does.&nbsp; But the shuttle does occassionally collide with very small pieces of space junk (like flecks of paint), but the damage is not catastrophic.&nbsp; If it hit a larger piece of junk there could be some bad damage because the closing velocities could be very high.&nbsp; The same situation would apply to the ISS.&nbsp; But the larger pieces of space junk are tracked. </p><p>5. is there terbulance in space and inside the iss</p><p>Turbulence is a phenomena exhibited by&nbsp;fluids,&nbsp;under conditions that allow&nbsp;approximation of the fluid as a continuum.&nbsp; Outside&nbsp;of the space station there is a very good vacuum, so there is not enough gass to permit any reasonable concept of fluid flow, so no turbulence.</p><p>Inside the ISS there is almost certainly&nbsp;some turbulence in the heating and air conditioning system.&nbsp; But turbulence does not&nbsp;entail any sort of damage or a rough ride for the ISS.&nbsp;&nbsp;It would not be turbulence&nbsp;at a magnitude such as that&nbsp;you might have experienced in an airplane.&nbsp; If you&nbsp;blow air through a straw there&nbsp;will be turbulence.&nbsp; &nbsp;</p><p>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>&nbsp;6. do other countries astronauts who have capsules on the iss talk with other astronauts from different countries, or is it very secluded</DIV></p><p>This is another question where Shuttleguy could give a more informed answer.&nbsp; But as far as I know the astronauts on the ISS work together and are sufficiently multilingual that they can and do talk to one another and help one another in their work.&nbsp; Space is probably not a good place for lone wolves.</p><p>[QUOTE}&nbsp;7. is it only testing that goes on in space ?, also what about garbage that collects on the iss is it tossed out into space ?&nbsp;sorry for so many questions, i'm just curious about all this stuff&nbsp; <br />Posted by science_newb</DIV></p><p>I'm not sure what you mean by "only testing".&nbsp; The ISS is basically a laboratory for experiments that cannot take place on Earth.&nbsp; It is not a factory if that is what you mean.</p><p>As far as I know (again a good question for Shuttleguy) the garbage from the ISS is discarded in such a manner as to re-enter the atmosphere of the Earth and burn up.<br /></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[3488]

<p><strong><font size="2">That's true DrRocket.</font></strong></p><p><font size="2"><strong>Hi science_newb, very big welcome to SDC.&nbsp;</strong></font></p><p><strong><font size="2">Temperature of an object in space is dependent on how much radiation it recieves verses as to how much is reflected & reradiated (Albedo).</font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2">It's quite a strange thought that the 'temperature' of space surrounding Mercury & Eris are the same, but of course, Mercury is receiving very much more radiation from the Sun, some 84,148 times as much as Dwarf Planet Eris.</font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2"> Perhaps DrRocket could correct my logic is I'm wrong. Basic sum, Mercury receives on average 9 times solar radiation that Earth does. Eris currently receives approx 1/9,340th that Earth does. 9 x 9,340 = 84,148. </font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2">Also Mercury is darker than Eris, so absorbs more of that extra solar radiation that Eris does. Mercury reflects approx 12% of the sunlight hitting the surface where as Eris reflects approx 87%, making Eris the second most reflective body in the solar system after the Saturn Moon Enceladus & pushes Neptune's Triton into third place.</font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2">Regarding reflectivity, then ISS does not have the same ablbedo over the entire structure, so different parts of the ISS will be warmer or colder according to their albedo.&nbsp;</font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2">Space junk is a huge problem, but as DrRocket correctly says, so far the biggest impacts to the Space Shuttle & ISS are really paint flakes etc, nothing big or massive fortunately.</font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2">Good analogy, what will be hotter on a sunny day? A black car or a white car?&nbsp;</font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2">Also as DrRocket correctly says, the ISS needs reboosting every now & again. The ISS is in space, that's a fact, but is also within the Earth's exosphere, the extremely tenous envelope that extends well into Near Earth Space. Over months & years the friction of the ISS & other low orbiting satellites with the exosphere, does cause them to slow just very slightly, causing them to lower & if left unchecked, can actually lower enough to enter the Earth's atmosphere properly, i.e Skylab, SolarMax, etc. Even the Hubble Space Telescope is affected & Hubble orbits at about twice the altitude of the ISS, so the process is happeing with Hubble also, but at a far slower rate than with the ISS, due to Hubble's vastly greater orbital altitude.&nbsp;</font></strong></p><p><font size="2"><strong>I think my post is correct. This particular field is not my strong point.&nbsp;</strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>Regarding ISS rubbish. IIRC isn't it loaded aboard the docked but emptied Russian Progress Vehicle that would have delivered supplies from Russia? I'm sure the trash is loaded aboard the empty Progrees, Progress detaches & then deorbited over the Pacific Ocean? Perhaps that is best left to shuttle_guy to answer. &nbsp;</strong></font></p><p><strong><font size="2">Andrew Brown.&nbsp;</font></strong></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[erioladastra]

<p>&nbsp;</p><p>The orbital speed of ISS is 17,500 mph.&nbsp; Give or take a few.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Yes, both the orbiter and ISS have numerous nicks and dings from space debris.&nbsp; In fact, the window on the curent shuttle up just got a big crater in it during the mission.&nbsp; Expected and designed for.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Yes, the Progress is packed with trash before it departs and reenters. </p>

 

[MeteorWayne]

Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>&nbsp;The orbital speed of ISS is 17,500 mph.&nbsp; Give or take a few.&nbsp;Yes, both the orbiter and ISS have numerous nicks and dings from space debris.&nbsp; In fact, the window on the curent shuttle up just got a big crater in it during the mission.&nbsp; Expected and designed for.&nbsp;Yes, the Progress is packed with trash before it departs and reenters. <br />Posted by erioladastra</DIV><br /><br />To answer the specific question, garbage is not just tossed out in space, for then it would become one of those objects that could hit the station and cause significant damage. SO it os collected into the Progress which burns up as it reenters the atmosphere (it is deorbited specifically so it does burn up.) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[science_newb]

first off i'd like to thank everyone for answering my questions, (and not making fun of me) , also i learned quite a bit by your responses, 1 more question though, i was on youtube watching videos of the space shuttle returning back to earth and i heard the "sonic booms" on the video, are they very loud in person also can they make you go deaf ?<br />

 

[lampblack]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>first off i'd like to thank everyone for answering my questions, (and not making fun of me) , also i learned quite a bit by your responses, 1 more question though, i was on youtube watching videos of the space shuttle returning back to earth and i heard the "sonic booms" on the video, are they very loud in person also can they make you go deaf ? <br /> Posted by science_newb</DIV></p><p><font size="2">Back in the 1960s, I remember hearing sonic booms all the time -- mainly from military aircraft flying in the vicinity. This would have been fairly conventional civilian airspace -- during a time before the government cracked down on sound emissions from supersonic aircraft. To the best of my knowledge, nobody has ever gone deaf from hearing a sonic boom -- although the orbiter's twin boom is reportedly (pun intended) quite loud.</font></p><p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#0000ff"><strong>Just tell the truth and let the chips fall...</strong></font> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>first off i'd like to thank everyone for answering my questions, (and not making fun of me) , also i learned quite a bit by your responses, 1 more question though, i was on youtube watching videos of the space shuttle returning back to earth and i heard the "sonic booms" on the video, are they very loud in person also can they make you go deaf ? <br />Posted by science_newb</DIV><br /><br />While loud, the sonic booms from the orbiter reentry are from quite far away (high in the atmosphere) so have spread out by the time they reach the ground.&nbsp; <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>