
Explore ISS on Google Maps - yvonnick
https://www.google.com/maps/@29.5602853,-95.0853914,2a,75y,212.04h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1szChzPIAn4RIAAAQvxgbyEg!2e0!3e5!7i10000!8i5000?shorturl=1
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houstonGuy
Yes thinkpads and Ethernet cable and routers and web servers (IIS and Apache
Tomcat) are part of the Operational local network (OpsLan) onboard the ISS -
they are used primarily for astronaut (crew) mission planning, procedures and
electronic communition - systems that are deemed not to be flight critical and
are not directly used in command and control of the spacecraft (think email,
documents and other messaging and notification systems)

Source: I was a ISS Flight Controller for 6 years and helped write the
software for local intranet websites hosted onboard the ISS for the crew

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org3432
I had an engineer from Boeing reach out to me once for help with the store and
forwarding of Ethernet frames from the science experiment outputs. At the time
he had a laptop running Qnx that would capture the frames, then when the ISS
was over Houston it would replay them for the down link. I wonder if they have
a better system in place now.

~~~
ronsor
I think the ISS networks over a geosynchronous satellite now (ISS -> satelite
-> Houston)

~~~
greglindahl
The TDRSS system predates the ISS. It’s more expensive than a direct downlink.

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callumprentice
I was expecting the earth to be moving out of the windows, displaying what the
ISS is passing over, albeit not real time.

I think that's possible - you can get current location of ISS and use that to
grab images from Google, distort in the right way and display. Maybe a nice
evenings project with my space-crazy 7 year old daughter..

Also, I thought the "Cupola" label you see when the page opens was
highlighting a place called that on the ground below :)

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7373737373
A public HD livestream would be world changing. Right now access to real time,
high resolution satellite imagery is still restricted to large organizations.
Only some rocket launches have some views from above.

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phit_
[https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/ESRS/HDEV/](https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/ESRS/HDEV/)

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laurynas-s
Wow, never realised it existed. It moves fast!

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sbr464
You can also ping this every second/few seconds.

[http://api.open-notify.org/iss-now.json](http://api.open-notify.org/iss-
now.json)

~~~
sbr464
Or my personal favorite, who’s in space right now:

[http://api.open-notify.org/astros.json](http://api.open-
notify.org/astros.json)

To save you from googling, it's these 3 people:

[0] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Saint-
Jacques](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Saint-Jacques)

[0]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ypiWwh_JEY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ypiWwh_JEY)

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_McClain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_McClain)

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iZhMOsc6nQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iZhMOsc6nQ)

[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleg_Kononenko](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleg_Kononenko)

[2]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrQQgc9z6Bs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrQQgc9z6Bs)

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skilled
Thanks for the links, this picture [1] stunned me a little. Have to say I am a
little jealous of all the people who have managed to get that level of direct
experience.

1:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleg_Kononenko#/media/File:ISS...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleg_Kononenko#/media/File:ISS-57_EVA_\(b\)_Oleg_Kononenko.jpg)

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unsignedint
ESA ISS Virtual Tour is also great.
[http://esamultimedia.esa.int/multimedia/virtual-tour-
iss/](http://esamultimedia.esa.int/multimedia/virtual-tour-iss/)

~~~
agildehaus
Also this VR recreation is pretty nice:

[https://www.oculus.com/experiences/rift/1178419975552187/](https://www.oculus.com/experiences/rift/1178419975552187/)

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52-6F-62
I loved that one.

BBC Home was also great— though it’s less of a tour of the station and more a
dramatic spacewalk experience.

It made me dizzy the first time through. I found a beer helped level me out
for the Canadarm scene.

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freedomben
Really surprised by all the loose cables. That seems like a safety issue. When
I was in the military, cable management was a _huge_ thing. We would get in
trouble unless every cable was secure. Having someone trip over a cable and
heaven forbid break it or yank it free, could lose lives. I would imagine
stakes are similarly high in space.

~~~
nitrix
What you don't see on the virtual map is that the station is very much alive.

There's constantly experiments, maintenance and whatnot going on. What may
look like loose cabling/equipment here and there is probably someone that was
in the middle of their work and had to get out of the shot.

The more critical systems (like life support) are all behind the panels for
the same reasons your realized.

~~~
dotancohen
It seems that this simulation wasn't filmed on the ISS in orbit, but rather at
the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility. The view out the cupola is fake.

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forgot-my-pw
This is so cool. So many instruments, all sides are jammed packed with things.

I noticed most signs are oriented the same direction. Does that mean there's
an "up" side?

If the enemy gate is down, does that mean the Earth is the enemy? ;)

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nitrix
Yeah, they explained in one of the tour videos that they spend most of their
time in the "upward" position.

The lights for example always come from the "ceiling". Apparently it helps
with the visual frame of reference (since you lose your sense of balance) and
more convenient to read the thousands of various labels at a quick glance.

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dabockster
The blue wires on the ThinkPads look like standard CAT Ethernet. Is this the
case?

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mavhc
Probably, they didn't like to use wifi

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dabockster
It just blows my mind that the cables that power the space station are some
standard CAT 5/6 cabling that I can go buy at the local hardware store.

In the words of the great Squidward Tentacles, FUUUTTTUUURRRE.

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jpatokal
(2017), but still cool!

[https://www.blog.google/products/maps/welcome-outer-space-
vi...](https://www.blog.google/products/maps/welcome-outer-space-view/)

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felipesabino
Noob here, can anyone explain who are in these pictures?
[http://imgur.com/a/DyA3sdr](http://imgur.com/a/DyA3sdr)

~~~
elkos
I think Tsiokolviski, Koroliev, and Gagarin.

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wyxuan
It is quite interesting to see how the ISS's 'location' on the map is on a
NASA base on earth.

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waiseristy
This really doesn't navigate well with Euler Angles and the view gimbal
locking

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vowelless
Where are quarternions when you need them !

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hunta2097
It's only just dawned on me that you don't need chairs in space.

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tempodox
Does this only work in Chrome or is navigating to node 3 always impossible?

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dbdoug
I have the same problem in Chrome

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aug_aug
Looks like they need to send Marie Kondo to outer space!

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christiangenco
I had the same thought! Everywhere I've explored is so junky - every surface
is consistently covered in stuff. I'd pay so much money to see Marie Kondo
tidy in space.

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aportnoy
So the ThinkPad is the NASA laptop of choice?

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navs
I can’t tell if that’s a Lenovo era Thinkpad. Would NASA still use thinkpads
considering all the hoo-ha when it comes to Chinese tech companies?

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potiuper
They are T61p [https://www.techrepublic.com/article/from-
windows-10-linux-i...](https://www.techrepublic.com/article/from-
windows-10-linux-ipads-iphones-to-hololens-the-tech-space-station-astronauts-
use/) Most computer parts are made in China regardless of the vendor not
including the CPU. Doubtful that they are using Libreboot, but that would be a
good justification for using them.

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davidgrenier
This makes unrealistic every science fiction movie ever.

Cables and tubes everywhere, have you gone through a tunnel of bags yet?

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wyxuan
This is a duplicate I believe from a few weeks ago

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davidcbc
But how did they get one of the streetview cars onto the ISS? That's the story
I want to know

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nouveau0
My head hurts

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rshm
is North arbitrary in the map or has some meaning ?

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nevi-me
From the first view that shows The view of Earth, our planet doesn't look
flat. It would be interesting/entertaining to hear flat Earth apologists argue
this away.

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navs
Easy: this is a fake construction. How are we truly to believe this is real?

I’d recommend not arguing after a certain point.

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r3bl
You can find your location here[0] and look up at the right time.

Not saying you should use this as an argument against those people, I've just
wanted to share something cool and easy to do.

[0]
[https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/sightings/](https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/sightings/)

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dzhiurgis
This is cool, but Google goes all the way to build this rather useless gimmick
instead of solving actual support problems that come up here once a week.

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dewey
The people who are working on that are probably not the same ones who would
deal with some unrelated issues on other products. It’s not like they decided
to not improve the gmail UI because they were working on the ISS project.

