http://www.nytimes.com/2009/
NATIONAL BRIEFING | SPACE AND TECHNOLOGY
Shuttle Astronauts Prepare to Leave Space Station
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 7, 2009
The astronauts aboard the orbiting shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station will soon part company. The 13 space travelers had a final job to accomplish together before the hatches between their spacecraft were closed, transferring a moving van holding a ton of trash and discarded equipment back aboard the Discovery. It was delivered by the shuttle, fully loaded with supplies, and moved onto the space station last week. The shuttle will undock on Tuesday and is due back at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday
A version of this article appeared in print on September 8, 2009, on page A16 of the New York edition
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The ISS is not self sufficient. A lot of items are brought up. Later what you don't want and can't use, has to go somewhere.
My garbage pickup is Wednesday and every other Wednesday there is a recycle pickup. On alternate Wednesdays the yard clippings get recycled.
What do you do if you live on a small island? Where do all the aluminum pop cans go? What about paper and cardboard and other unmentionables?
What will you do with your trash at a Lunar Base?
So far the Apollo missions just tossed their wrappers, tools, and other items.
Historically cities have been built on trash dumps. In Silicon Valley, here in California, there are gulf courses, event stadiums, and business buildings built over land fill.
Historically cities have been built on trash dumps. In Silicon Valley, here in California, there are gulf courses, event stadiums, and business buildings built over land fill.
You can tap the methane gas that is generated under the clay topping seal. Helps make electricity for a local baseball park.
Too bad I don't have a portable garbage plasma destructor that could reduce the plastics and organics to pure elements. Could use a lot of the hydrogen and carbon and constituents to make new compounds.
- LRK -
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http://discovermagazine.com/
The Ultimate Garbage Disposal
A power station eats up dirty landfill and churns out clean electricity.
by Tony McNicol
From the May 2007 issue, published online May 18, 2007
What could be better than a power station that eats up dirty landfill and churns out clean electricity? One facility in Utashinai, Japan, has been doing just that since 2003, using plasma—an electrically induced stream of hot, charged particles—to process up to 220 tons of
municipal solid waste a day. Now a bigger and better $425 million plant is scheduled for completion by 2009 in Saint Lucie County, Florida. The operator, Atlanta-based Geoplasma, expects it to generate 160 megawatts of electricity—enough to power 36,000 homes—from a daily diet of trash.
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http://cleantechnica.com/2008/
Plasma Technology Turns Trash into Gas
Written by Ariel Schwartz
Published on November 10th, 2008 in alternative fuels
An Atlanta, GA-based company called Geoplasma is using trash to provide power to 50,000 homes in Florida. The company’s plasma refuse plant, which should be online by 2011, is a first for the United States. It will process 1,500 tons of garbage each day and send 60 MW of power to the grid.
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We live on spaceship Earth and even if we don't develop the Moon's resources, we can always do better with what we have at hand.
- LRK -
Thanks for looking up with me.
Larry Kellogg
Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lrkellogg
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http://www.nasaspaceflight.
MPLM reberthed into Discovery’s Payload Bay ahead of undocking
September 7th, 2009 by Chris Bergin
Discovery is all set for her Tuesday departure from the International
Space Station (ISS), following the reberthing of the Leonardo
Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) into the orbiter’s payload bay
and the hatch closure between to two vehicles. Tuesday’s undocking
will be ahead of a new conjunction threat that is being monitored by
ISS controllers.
STS-128 Latest:
With docked operations now coming to an end, Discovery and her crew
can look back on the highly successful completion of transfers and
spacewalks for this mission – with the final EVA completed over the
weekend.
Overall, all three EVAs managed to complete all their tasks, along
with a number of get-heads. Only a handful of “items of interest” were
noted via the conclusion of EVA-3 on the Mission Management Team (MMT)
documentation.
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http://spacefellowship.com/
Shuttle And Station Crews Install Cargo Module Leonardo
Published By Klaus SchmidtOn: 01 September 2009 7:55 AM CEST Source
(NASA) – STS-128 Pilot Kevin Ford and Expedition 20 Flight Engineer
Mike Barratt used the station robotic arm to move the Leonardo
Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) from Discovery’s payload bay to
the Earth-facing port on the station’s Harmony module. Mission
specialists Christer Fuglesang of the European Space Agency and Tim
Kopra assisted with the attachment and activation activity.
The MPLM is carrying 15,000 pounds of supplies and equipment for use
on the station, including more science facilities. The crew will spend
the next several days unloading the hardware.
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http://esamultimedia.esa.int/
(5 page 633KB pdf)
Principal Payload: Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM)
In some ways, the MPLM is a descendant of Spacelab, which flew aboard
the Shuttle between 1983 and 1996. However, the MPLM took full
advantage of the improved technology that had been developed,
particularly in welding. As a result, the MPLM is much lighter than
its predecessor, which means that more than 9 tonnes of its 14-tonne
launch weight can be given over to useful cargo. At the same time, the
MPLM is robust enough for a service life of 25 return trips to space.
The MPLM also shares some basic systems with Europe's Columbus
laboratory, which has been permanently attached to the ISS since
February 2008. Their structures are similar, although Columbus has a
''skin' twice as thick as the MPLM, and both Columbus and the MPLM
make use of ESA's Environmental Control and Life Support Sub-system.
In the case of the MPLM, ESA was able to 'trade' with the Italian
Space Agency, exchanging the ECLSS for Italian-developed structural
elements that were used in Columbus. Without such cash-free
transactions, international space programmes would be much more
expensive.
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK
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