ParticleGirl asks: "Dennis Tito's flight to the ISS is scheduled for the same time that the Canadian Space Agency (CSA)'s robotic arm is supposed to be installed. Speaking for the CSA, Marc Garneau did an interview with Space.com. Now that Canada has come out against Tito going into space, it'll be interesting to see what kind of a compromise will be reached. Until now, this has been a sort-of standoff between Russia and the United States, but now other countries are entering the fray. Should this dude have access to the space station just because he's got the cash? He did work for NASA, and he seems to be intelligent and capable. On the other hand, he's not a trained astronaut and could plausibly be a liability if there is some sort of emergency. Will this be our first extra-orbital international incident?" While the article at Space.Com downplays any possibility of such an occurence, I can see reasons for both sides, here: Russia should be able to run their own space program, without any interference from the US, however Tito's presence on the ISS affects more than Russian interests. If the issue is a matter of training, however, I'm sure that Tito will need to pass some form of certification for space travel. Another thing to remember: the Russians have been at this space-travel thing longer than the US has. As always, feel free to share your thoughts on this issue.

Midnight Thunder writes "There is an article over at the BBC stating that an NASA is refusing to allow a Russian-backed US businessman onto ISS. Maybe the 'I' doesn't stand for international?" The article suggests NASA would let him go if he had more training, which means he'll be up there eventually...

hey! writes "This just in at space.com -- new details of the Bush NASA budget. It looks like the Pluto-Kuiper express has been cancelled -- possibly our last chance for centuries to get a closeup look at Pluto's atmosphere. As Jupiter moves out of position for gravity assist and Pluto moves further from the Sun it's atmosphere will begin to freeze. My favorite line in the report -- ISS will get increased "consistent with a strategy of constraining space station cost growth." OK, they're talking about being pound wise and penny foolish, but you can't pass up an Orwellian straight line like that."

Gothmolly asks: "There are a growing number of Managed Security Providers (MSP) out there. Basically, these guys drop a firewall in your company, then manage it remotely. Defendnet also offers VPN and (I hear) in-line Anti-Virus solutions. Places like MyCIO and ISS basically do the same thing. How does one evaluate the capabilities of a Managed Security Provider?"

Fervent writes "I think most of us don't totally realize what dangerous and costly things our astronauts have to do. Saturday morning the ISS (International Space Station) will be connected to the bus-sized science lab. The mission is so dangerous, that there is only 2 inches on either side of the shuttle doors to maneuver the lab out. So costly that NASA literally couldn't build a spare, so this is only a one shot deal. They either get it right or they go home hanging their heads. CNN has the article on this particularly tricky maneuver."

delorean writes "The Shuttle Atlantis lifted off last night on a spectacular evening launch. It had to be the most beautiful launch I've seen, even if it was only by TV. Check out this pic of the boosters rockets falling away. The Shuttle is carrying the Destiny Laboratory for the International Space Station, the most expensive piece of equipment for the multi-national effort. Once the Destiny is hooked up and online the control of the ISS will switch over to a special Mission Control center in Houston instead of Russia. Get the incredible statistics about the assembly here. Read the Mission goal, Realtime Tracking of the Shuttle and ISS here and catch Sightings here."

Dahamma writes "I saw on Voodoo Extreme that NASA has modeled a "Virtual International Space Station" in Unrealty, an architectural modeling package using the Unreal engine. Download is already a little slow, though, and I can't imagine a /. post will help that..."

TOTKChief writes: "After stories of air quality problems and other fun glitches on ISS, NASA Watch is reporting the following: 'NASA Seeks to Suppress ISS Crew Reports.' This is from a status message sent out to NASA and contractor ISS program office Staff: 'Notes from today's staff: The Ships Log, sent down almost daily from the ISS crew, will no longer be available on the web due to legal concerns with the freedom of information act. A process will be put in place to make them available to those who need it, IMC, Flt control team, etc.'" Considering the huge advances made in astronaut safety since the space program began, it would probably be comforting to hear about problems being solved in space rather than brushing them over with silence. And when there are problems, doesn't the public have the right to know? (Whose dollars put those folks up there in the first place?)

MousePotato writes: "Space.com is reporting that former NASA scientist turned Wall Street guru Dennis Tito has apparently gotten final approval (paid in full I guess is all you really need) for launch aboard a Soyuz by the end of April. Destination: ISS. Tito was originally slated to be one of the first tourists aboard the rapidly declining MIR space station. No specific figures are available on the site as to how much for the mircograv vacation but the rumor mill is placing the cost of the trip at $20 million USD. This may be just a few dollars more than buying your own rotary rocket company at auction but might just give the space tourism industry the kick it needs..."

madumas writes: "This article reports that the crew of the ISS (or alpha, or...) seem to have some problems with their air scrubber. They need replacement parts so fix the regenerator. It's interesting to see that they are a failure away from an emergency evacuation. For now, they are planning the shipping of the spare parts that should be done Dec. 26. Let's hope for them it doesn't fail."

Chairboy writes "According to this press release, MirCorp (the company that was leasing space station Mir for commercial opportunities) is ending their involvement with Mir and concentrating on building a commercial lab module for the International Space Station. Looks like NASA's wish to get rid of legit competition in the station business has been answered.... This is unfortunate, Station Mir is a fully functional space station with more capabilities then the International Space Station at the moment. Because it's already there, lots of operations could have been done less expensively on Mir then the politically expedient ISS."

calebjc writes "I was amazed at the recent NASA TV live feed of astronauts fixing the ISS solar panel. It was the first mission using HelmetCams. I took a bunch of screen shots and wrote up a little piece this weekend. I think this is a giant step for space media!" I just watched the shuttle mission land on NASA's broadcast, and now it's sitting on the runway and venting steam or something. Even after so many years it's amazing to think that that brick actually flies.

hiroko writes "BBC has an article here. $600m worth of solar array now in place, but not without hitch - One wing is less taut than it should be because of problems encountered during the roll out of the structure." Supposedly we should be able to see it from the ground now, and I thought I had a URL for an ephemeris but I can't find it. Anyone?

DarrylM writes "With the solar panels installed, the ISS should be visible with the naked eye.Heavens-Above will tell you when the Station will be passing over your city as it orbits.It also tracks Mir, some satellites, and the Space Shuttle."

Triode writes "In this months issue of Physics Today there is a very interesting read entitled 'From Quantum Cheating to Quantum Security' which delves into encryption. Talks about ads and disads of popular encryption (keys, public keys, DES etc), the size of current encryption and why it is not (theoretically) good. Quantum computers could make breaking our current methods of encryptoin easy, so we need to start now with methods of encrytption that would not be so easy. A pretty basic example of a implementation of the B92 protocol is given using a single photon source over a 48km optical fiber. Worth a read. Check it out at the AIP website."

A reader writes: "According to Christian Science Monitor, tomorrow humans will begin their permanent lives off of earth. Starting with the Expedition 1 launch in Kazakhstan at 7:53 GMT, Oct. 31, NASA plans to always have a human on the ISS, which has a projected mission life of 10 to 25 years. So, it is quite possible, that for the rest of history, there will always be humans who are not living on earth. See this ISS Homepage for more information on the mission."

TOTKChief writes "Aviation Now is reporting that NASA will use the Structural Test Article for the new Propulsion Module design for the International Space Station. NASA Watch is carrying a good rendering of the concept as well as a rendering of what the Prop Module would look like attached to ISS. FWIW, this is called the "Mickey Option" because of the resemblance to Mickey Mouse. Only the Feds would choose the Mickey Mouse route, right?"

TOTKChief writes "Normally, a Shuttle launch isn't all that interesting, right? Well, the STS-106 (ISS 2A.2b) mission was interesting because it used a very small launch window in order to save fuel, which is a good thing. SpaceRef has good coverage of STS-106 up and running, including some of the on-board science -- most notably a neat protein crystal growth experiment that was worked on by a good friend of mine. NASA needs to get cracking, though, because an ambitious launch schedule awaits."

BulletValentine writes "ZDNet is reporting that approximately 400 machines have been found to be running Trinity v3, a DDoS attack program. Supposedly Trinity can set up to eight different types of flood attacks. ZDNet referred readers to Internet Security Solutions for more information about the attack and precautions to take."

ackthpt writes: "NASA has a feature on the growing visibility of the International Space Station, along with naked-eye Visibility Data when and where to look to see it streaking throught the night sky for US and Non-US cities. Will there be a point where corporate sponsorship hangs an ad in space? Already appearing "as the third brightest star in the nighttime sky", it will eventually be second only to Venus. Will we look up and see a Nike swoosh some day?"