New Mars Forums

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: ISS:  Soldering Surprise

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iss-04zl.html]Rosin spinning like a carnival ride!

*Nifty article.

While experimenting with how soldering works in a weightless environment, saw droplets of rosin begin to "spin, round and round, faster and faster, like a miniature carnival ride.  'What a surprise,' says Grugel. 'I've never seen anything like it.'"

"This is important information for astronauts. If something breaks during a long trip to Mars, they'll likely reach for a soldering iron to repair it."

--Cindy

---

We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 29,431

Re: ISS:  Soldering Surprise

I has posted this yesterday under the Iss cutbacks topic.
So we actually can build things in space if given the tools. Who would have thought it something other than the science being trumpeted as the only use of the station.

Now here is a real surprise of science being done on the ISS.
Soldering Surprise
There's nothing routine about working in space, as astronaut Mike Fincke found out recently when he did some soldering onboard the International Space Station.

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004 … solder.htm