Oh, That's Gonna Leave a Mark!

Let's say that you're a big government organization.  Let's say that you have an application where your computers really, really need to be reliable.  Like, say, NASA's computers on the International Space Station.  What's the absolute last operating system you would choose for those computers?

Everyone I know in IT or programming would instantly say “Windows!”.  Naturally, NASA chose Windows.  Windows XP, to be precise.

But...even NASA eventually got tired of crashing, virus-vulnerable computers.  They just switched to Linux (Debian 6). 

Somewhere a Microsoft salesperson is being boiled in oil while Bill Gates stirs and Steve Ballmer piles on the coal...

What Happens...

If you wring out a sopping-wet washcloth in zero gravity?  Watch:


On one level, this is a fascinating experiment and a great demonstration of one effect of gravity's absence.

On another level, it's a little sad that NASA has to resort to things like this in its efforts to justify the ISS.  It would be ever so much easier to justify if the ISS was producing exciting, useful, or surprising science results, instead of parlor tricks...

Tour of the ISS...

Via my mom.  I have mixed feelings viewing this.  There is a lot of cool, advanced technology on display; fun stuff for any geek.  On the other hand, the video showcases the stuff we've spent a vast amount of money on, with negligible returns.  Sigh.

Views from Space...

A time-lapse movie made entirely of single-frame photos taken from the ISS:

ISS and Space Shuttle...

Reader Paul H. sends this along: a Russian Soyuz captured photos of the ISS and the space shuttle Endeavour together.  We don't normally see photos like this, as generally they're either photos of ISS taken from the space shuttle, or vice versa.

Here are many more photos of this encounter and a nice story on it.