Discovery To Bring "Plug and Play" Micro-Lab To ISS 43
astroengine writes "In an effort to standardize the way we do microgravity experiments, a Kentucky-based non-profit organization has developed the 'CubeLab' (a modular, miniature laboratory) that can be plugged into a rack of 15 other CubeLabs. The first set of micro-labs will be carried to the space station by the shuttle Discovery on Monday morning's launch. The CubeLab's small design allows it to be easily shipped to and from the space station, providing a faster pace of experimentation. Also, its 'plug and play' interface means installation is a breeze. Even better is the fact the CubeLabs are developed by Kentucky students, university researchers and enthusiasts. Now they've teamed up with the Houston-based NanoRacks LLC; could this be the future of space research collaboration?"
What do they do up there? (Score:2, Insightful)
Seriously, I'm curious here. Don't they already have like a dozen modules for doing experiments that they hardly use?
What exactly are they doing up there that they'll need these new cubes for?
Re:Why the tortoise loses in real life (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes it's amazing how private enterprise, only 50 years after NASA first put someone in space has managed to build a spaceship that hasn't actually put anyone in space yet. Hooray for the free market!
Re:Why the tortoise loses in real life (Score:1, Insightful)
Uh oh, a full blown Space Nutter. There is no way any of this adolescent sci-fi jizz is going to happen in the next hundred years, if at all. We don't have the energy to do it. Plus the fact that humans just aren't meant to be in space. End of story.
You really, and I mean REALLY need to sit down and do some basic math. Space is BIG. There is NO ROOM for failure, AT ALL. You can't just "mine the asteroids". Figure out how much energy you'd need to do so. And remember, it's all oil-based energy, and we'd need to haul it all with us, including air, food and water.
There is PLENTY of room right here on Earth. Politics, selfishness and greed are the problems. And this is what you want to colonize space with? Short-lived monkeys?