Astronauts head for extreme home makeover in space

(AP) -- The international space station is about to get all the comforts of a modern, high-end, "green" home: a fancy recycling water filter, a new fridge, extra bedrooms, workout equipment and the essential half-bath.

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• RAF4 - Nov 09, 2008
  • Rank: 2 / 5 (2)
  I think that the space program should move along with the economy. It's been about 40 years since we have gone to the moon and I believe our next steps are to build a better space station and then take it a step further from there. But the space program needs to keep pace with the economy. RAF
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• wawadave - Nov 09, 2008
  • Rank: 4.3 / 5 (3)
  well if they do that nasa,s budget next year will be only $10,000.00
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• Bob_Kob - Nov 10, 2008
  • Rank: 2.7 / 5 (3)
  Its supposed to be almost 0 degrees kelvin in space, why cant they just put their foods and drinks in a small port or something that can radiate out to space to cool them down?
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• TJ_alberta - Nov 10, 2008
  • Rank: 3 / 5 (3)
  bob - my thought exactly. but you would need beer cans that can stand the pressure difference.
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• DGBEACH - Nov 10, 2008
  • Rank: 4 / 5 (3)

  Its supposed to be almost 0 degrees kelvin in space, why cant they just put their foods and drinks in a small port or something that can radiate out to space to cool them down?

  
  
  I may be wrong but...
  Cooling anything down involves removing heat from it, which requires a transport medium (gas or liquid), and neither exist in space...if anything it might heat up due to being bombarded by gamma radiation (?)
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• Modernmystic - Nov 10, 2008
  • Rank: 3 / 5 (2)
  We need to forget that floating hunk of junk and concentrate on the moon (before the Chinese get it in their head to claim the whole thing when they land there), and continue work on unmanned missions providing they're actually going to produce some NEW science.
  
  
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• TrustTheONE - Nov 10, 2008
  • Rank: 1 / 5 (2)
  Again, lets BUILD the SPACE elevator! Then we'll be able to build anything on space, even ships with heavy shields against radiation.
  
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• DGBEACH - Nov 10, 2008
  • Rank: 3.5 / 5 (2)

  We need to forget that floating hunk of junk and concentrate on the moon (before the Chinese get it in their head to claim the whole thing when they land there), and continue work on unmanned missions providing they're actually going to produce some NEW science.
  
  

  
  
  Better yet, why not just move it closer to the moon...or ON the moon [ever-so carefully :)] Then we'd just have to send automated supply ships to the moon, which could also be used for habitation modules afterwards...voila, instant city :) Let's get this going already!!
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• gopher65 - Nov 10, 2008
  • Rank: 5 / 5 (3)
  TJ_alberta and Bob_Kob:
  
  You're not exactly wrong about the temperature of space, but you're confused as to the meaning of the word temperature. Temperature is the average particle motion in a sample. The more movement the individual particles have, the higher the temperature. But also, the more particles there are, the higher the temperature.
  
  In space there are very few particles in any give area of space, so the total combined kinetic energy of all the particles is therefore low, and that's what temperature is.
  
  So few particles = low temperature.
  
  Now that said, DGBEACH is right. There are 3 basic types of heat transfer: conductive (touching something), convective (mixing stuff), and radiative (emitting energy through radiation of various types, be it thermal or visible light, or whatever).
  
  Almost all heating and cooling between objects on Earth is done through conductive and convective methods. That is because they are by FAR and away faster than radiative cooling/heating. But those two types of heat transfer require particles to carry energy from one area to another; in space there are none (or few).
  
  So the only heat transfer mechanism is radiation. And for every bit of radiation that your beer can in space is emitting, it is receiving some from the sun. In astronaut's suits for instance, they use air conditioners, not heaters. If they didn't have cooling they'd fry themselves to death with a combination of their own body heat and solar radiation.
  
  So it's kind of a misnomer to just say "space is cold". Also, it isn't easy to get stuff in and out of the station. So even if you could cool things that way, it would be dangerous and difficult.
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• bspa - Nov 10, 2008
  • Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
  Thank you gopher65 for your clear explanation that made it so easy for me to understand. I am not a scientist and am always trying to understand scientific explanations. Such plain English is always the best.
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• Treetops - Nov 11, 2008
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  and by the way: due to the missing molecules in space there is sound transmitted. The outside shots of science fiction movies mostly have some kind of engine noise to impress the viewers.
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