
ISS Virtual Tour - kapranoff
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/multimedia/virtual-tour-iss/
======
sandyarmstrong
This is awesome. If you'd like a live video tour, I recently sat down with my
5 year old to watch a wonderful video from NASA [0].

They talk about some of the facilities in a way that kids can understand, and
there's something wondrous about seeing how they move around, regularly
changing their orientations, etc.

[0]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doN4t5NKW-k](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doN4t5NKW-k)

~~~
jsingleton
The coolest video I found on the ESA tour is this time-lapse one from the
Cupola. Absolutely stunning.

[http://wsn.spaceflight.esa.int/php/download.php?fn=/videos/F...](http://wsn.spaceflight.esa.int/php/download.php?fn=/videos/F_2014/F_Blue_Dot/1417170856_Timelapses_Long_HD/hires.mp4&newfn=Timelapses_Long_HD_HR.mp4)

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torgoguys
Very cool!

Wow, I never realized how cluttered the ISS was. Stuff all over! Lots of
Thinkpads as already mentioned, but lots of lots of things: cameras, lens,
etc. I surprised at the amount of duplication. (I do realize that redundancy
is key when you can't just run to the store to replace something, but
still...)

~~~
arrrg
If you zoom in on the images you can see why they have so many cameras: loads
of dead pixels everywhere. They don’t last forever up there because of the
increased radiation. I would assume they don’t really fly stuff like still
functioning cameras with loads of dead pixels back. (Even some old iPad seems
to get good use as a wall clock next to the dining table.)

Also, if I remember correctly (from some interview with some ESA guy, I think)
people on the ground would prefer it if the station were kept tidier – but the
people up there are busy people with more important things to do than to keep
everything always super-tidy. But inventory management is apparently a big
topic and they do have a system for it. (I think even including a barcode
scanner to catalogue items.)

I mean, even still, looking at those images, I do have to say everything does
seem … tidier than usual. I think they cleaned up before they took them. Those
more improvised tours of the station from astronauts you can find on YouTube
show a station that is substantially more cluttered. Or at least seem that
way. Looking at those pictures and being familiar with others and videos of
the station my first thought was not how cluttered everything is but how tidy.
Compared to the usual state of things, at least.

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arethuza
I'm going to put the audio-book version of _Seveneves_ on (just started
listening to it for the second time this morning) and have a good browse
around this.

~~~
d_theorist
Made me think of Seveneves as well. I bet Stephenson would have found this
thing really useful for writing the book.

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aurelian15
This entire tour is interesting and enjoyable! Just spent an entire evening --
almost three hours -- looking around and watching the videos. Many kudos to
Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti for her very concise explanations and
demonstrations.

The panoramas are of very high quality (except for the inevitable dead
pixels). It is nice to see all the Ethernet cables, electrical outlets,
stopwatches, valves, tools or just the video projector connected via VGA to a
notebook in Node 1, just before you fly into the Russian module. And yes,
there is a striking contrast between the Russian and the US/European/Japanese
modules.

I especially recommend watching the time-lapse video shot by Alexander Gerst:

[http://wsn.spaceflight.esa.int/videos/F_2014/F_Blue_Dot/1417...](http://wsn.spaceflight.esa.int/videos/F_2014/F_Blue_Dot/1417170856_Timelapses_Long_HD/hires.mp4)

 _Edit:_

Btw. executing the following code in the JS console

    
    
      "{" + pano.getCurrentNode() + "}\",\"" + pano.getPan() + "/" + pano.getTilt() + "/" + pano.getFov()
    

gives you a string encoding the current position. You can restore that
position by copy and pasting it into the "pano.openURL()" method. Examples:

    
    
      pano.openUrl("{node5}","216.49016925709486/38.116922404005344/47.440801242792304") // The IMAX...
      pano.openUrl("{node5}","288.6799234893748/17.169120787478608/17.33030268127927") // ...and its CF cards

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jefurii
After a bit of digging, I foudn that the wall behind the cluster of Thinkpads
in the Columbus module is made up of European Drawer Rack modules[0] which are
basically 19in racks. NASA has its own International Standard Payload Rack
(ISPR) module system[1]. It would be interesting to see some articles on the
power and data infrastructure of the station.

[0]
[http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Columbus...](http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Columbus/European_Drawer_Rack)

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

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gii2
Did you noticed that there are only ThinkPads there? It is the only laptop
certified to work on ISS.

~~~
Kiro
What are the requirements?

~~~
rtkwe
There's a lot that goes into space worthiness rating even beyond the technical
spec requirements. There's probably a bid request available for when they were
first considered too. No idea where to start hunting that down though.

There was a really good article[0] (plus a video talk I can't find) on a team
that modified an Android phone to go to space to interface with the SPHERES
mini satellite experiments. A short list of the things they had to do
includes:

\- No Lithium Ion battery, it takes 2+ years to get a LIon battery certified
for the ISS

\- Had to put a screen protector on, broken glass screen becomes an inhalation
hazard in zero G, BUT many materials are considered flammable in the high
oxygen environment on station.

\- Had to lobotomize the Wifi and cellular chips to ensure they'd never turn
on. Just removing the software that would control and allow them to turn on
wasn't enough.

In addition to everything in the article they have to worry about off gassing
from all the various materials that make up anything sent to space.

[0] [http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/03/how-nasa-got-an-
andro...](http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/03/how-nasa-got-an-android-
handset-ready-to-go-into-space/)

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robryk
It's interesting to see some differences between the US-and-everyone-else and
Russian part. One that was most striking to me is cabling and piping between
modules: on the Russian side, the pipes go through the hatches, which
complicates closing the hatches but makes the cables and pipes easier to
access/repair and makes it easier to install new ones. On the other side,
there are no pipes or cables going through hatches.

There's also a hatch in the deck of Unity that seems to have nothing on the
other side (the one labelled Hab). Is it a place where a module will be added?

~~~
sudhirj
Probably stands for Habitat. I could see bunks anywhere else. I doubt the
astronauts want to show living quarters. Not much privacy as it is.

~~~
robryk
I mean the hatch in the middle of Unity's floor. It appears to have space on
the other side and is closed.

They do show living quarters in Node 2 -- there is even a video of the
interior.

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ourmandave
If you're an early riser this site will tell you when you can watch ISS fly
over.

[http://iss.astroviewer.net/observation.php](http://iss.astroviewer.net/observation.php)

~~~
jsingleton
Nice. I remember using that to see the ISS over London on Christmas last year.
Great sight.

[http://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2014/12/16/space-station-
to-...](http://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2014/12/16/space-station-to-fly-over-
london-over-christmas/)

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drzaiusapelord
I love the disconnect between science fiction and reality. There's no
beautiful Kubrick-esque set design here. The whole thing just looks like
someone's garage, full of nick-nacks, tools, and little projects. It just a
giant mancave, really. This is why I'm a little bored with LEO space
exploration. I can't wait for the SLS to go live and try something that isn't
this.

That said, I would love to see a ISS-like structure on the moon, perhaps also
serving as a dark-side radio telescope.

~~~
arrrg
The mundanity is what makes it real and also very cool to me. I don’t think
manned space exploration will look any different in the future … until maybe
it starts looking mundane in other ways (think mundanity of commercial air
travel). Even if we do go to Mars or other places. LEO has little to do with
that … and SLS will look just the same on the inside.

~~~
drzaiusapelord
Good point. I guess what I was trying to express that just floating in LEO is
fairly boring. My example of a moon base would be much more thrilling,
especially if it could serve as a dark-side radio telescope or even as a
space-port for deep launches.

A lot of little experiments an LEO ferrying back and forth is something we've
been able to do since at least the 60's. I would love to see some next-gen
stuff and with the SLS I will. I think NASA is very committed to a manned
asteroid mission and a return to the moon.

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throw7
Had to laugh about the tools on board... both a set of metric and english. :D
And apparently the english set are used more often (not sure what to take away
from that... heh)

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return0
Are the EXIT signs real or a cruel joke?

~~~
arrrg
There are Soyuz constantly docked to the ISS with enough seats for everyone on
board. Those are where you would exit the station in case of emergency. The
signs show the way.

I assume that’s the case, since that is the only explanation that does make
sense given the design – with the red stripes – and the consistent placement
of the signs. The station has two other obvious exits – the two air locks –
but those wouldn’t be used in case of an emergency and don’t need signage
throughout the station showing you the way there.

There is an exit sign right next to the US airlock, but that could also just
be there to tell you to turn left when you exit the airlock to get to the
docked Soyuz: [http://imgur.com/8UJP11Y](http://imgur.com/8UJP11Y)

If you look around you can see that the red stripe design is used throughout
the station to show you where things are you would need in an emergency, like
“Portable Breathing Apparatus”, “Fire Extinguisher” and “Fire Port” (all for
use during fires). There are also some signs with red stripes that have
different directional arrows and pictograms on them. Oh, I just zoomed in on
those and look what I found:
[http://imgur.com/3Qyl3bE](http://imgur.com/3Qyl3bE)

That’s your definite answer! The pictograms are an elaboration on the Exit
signs, showing you the directions in which you can find the Shuttle and Soyuz.
Obviously, that Shuttle pictogram – it was always docked at the other end of
the station – is kinda outdated by now. They can hopefully put some nice
Dragon/CST-100 stickers on there soon.

It seems they use red/white stripes to indicate emergency routes and equipment
and yellow/black stripes for warnings and caution signs. Blue signs to show
you where up and own, backward and forward, left and right is. As the station
is always in free fall that’s obviously arbitrary, but consistently defining
those directions in some way obviously also helps with orientation (and, I
would assume, communication between everyone working up there and those on the
ground communicating with the station). Look for the OVHD, FWD, AFT, DECK and
so on signs around the hatches. Also, look at the hatch where you enter the
Russian sector (directly beyond that and down are the Soyuz). You can see many
round glow-in-dark patches around the hatch, obviously also used to show you
the way to a Soyuz ship, especially if, say, power and lights are out.

By the way, look what I found:
[http://imgur.com/Elwl8Rf](http://imgur.com/Elwl8Rf)

It seems someone moved the equipment for some reason and patched over the
emergency sign, adding a handwritten note with the place the equipment was
moved to.

I know that they _do_ have a printer on board but, eh, I guess a handwritten
note will do. (I love looking at all of those all over the station.)

(Cosmonauts in the Russian part of the station apparently have an innate sense
of direction in space and as such do not need signs, or at least not as many.
And definitely none with such gaudy designs!)

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deneca
I would love to see a version of this for Google Cardboard

~~~
soylentcola
Later this evening when I get home I'm gonna fire it up fullscreen in VR
Desktop (Rift rather than Cardboard). It's not 3D but 360-panoramic can still
be cool to look at.

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harywilke
Duct Tape spotted! Zarya module. look up! three hose fittings? covered in
tape. I think i'd live in constant fear of bumping the wrong knob/pipe/lever
while floating from one module to the next.

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jefurii
I wish there was a way to link to things in this by "room", angle, and zoom
level.

I'm really curious what some of this stuff is, like that green box in the
middle of that cluster of Thinkpads on the Columbus module, the blue box and
other stuff "beneath" the oven. Power distribution modules? Computers in
hardened cases?

~~~
jefurii
aurelian15 answered my question in another thread. Thanks aurelian15!

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Kiro
Aren't there any windows?

~~~
plg
i think they use linux

~~~
gadrfgaesgysd
They also get apples occasionally.

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shpx
Any chance someone has the raw pictures? They serve them as small images and
stitch them together in the browser.

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nomercy400
This is so good. A more than decent explanation of what's going on in such a
restricted environment.

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chmullig
Seems like their poor server is struggling with load.

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ekianjo
The space station is full of Thinkpads :)

