Space/ISS

Rocket engineer Wernher von Braun and other scientists expected until the 1960s that a space station would be an important early step in space exploration. Today space stations are mainly seen as a place for research under zero-gravity.

Texts

SkyLab

After the landing on the moon space exploration seemed at an end. In 1973 NASA launched a space station. It circled earth in an orbit of 400km height for five years but was inhabitated for only 24 weeks.

The Russians had several space stations. The last and biggest one was MIR which operated from 1986 to 2001.

A space Shower

Skylab had a zero-gravity shower system in the work and experiment section of the Orbital Workshop designed and built at the Manned Spaceflight Center. It had a cylindrical curtain that went from floor to ceiling and a vacuum system to suck away water. The floor of the shower had foot restraints.

To bathe, the user coupled a pressurized bottle of warmed water to the shower's plumbing, then stepped inside and secured the curtain. A push-button shower nozzle was connected by a stiff hose to the top of the shower. The system was designed for about 6 pints (2.8 liters) of water per shower, the water drawn from the personal hygiene water tank. The use of both the liquid soap and water was carefully planned out, with enough soap and warm water for one shower per week per person.

The first astronaut to use the space shower was Paul J. Weitz on Skylab 2, the first manned mission.

A Skylab shower took about two and a half hours, including the time to set up the shower and dissipate used water. The procedure for operating the shower was as follows:

1. Fill up the pressurized water bottle with hot water and attach it to the ceiling
2. Connect the hose and pull up the shower curtain
3. Spray down with water
4. Apply liquid soap and spray more water
5. Vacuum up all the fluids and stow items

One of the big concerns with bathing in space was control of droplets of water so that they did not cause an electrical short by floating into the wrong area. The vacuum water system was thus integral to the shower. The vacuum fed to a centrifugal separator, filter, and collection bag to allow the system to vacuum up the fluids. Waste water was injected into a disposal bag which was in turn put in the waste tank. The material for the shower enclosure was fire-proof beta cloth wrapped around hoops of 43 inches (110 cm) diameter; the top hoop was connected to the ceiling. The shower could be collapsed to the floor when not in use. Skylab also supplied astronauts with rayon terrycloth towels which had a color-coded stitching for each crew-member

Interactive exercises

ISS

The International Space Station (ISS) is a space station, or a habitable artificial satellite, in low Earth orbit. Its first component was launched(launch) into orbit in 1998, with the first long-term residents arriving(arrive) in November 2000. It has been inhabited(inhabit) continuously since that date. The last pressurised module was fitted in 2011, and an experimental inflatable space habitat was added(add) in 2016.
The station is expected (expect) to operate until 2030.

Life aboard the ISS

Rewrite sentences 1-5 in the passive voice.                                                                    

ß. In 2018 NASA launched another long-term mission to the ISS.

  In 2016 another long-term mission to the ISS was launched.

1  The rocket was carrying three astronauts to the ISS.

  three astronauts were being carried() to the ISS.

1  The rocket was carrying three astronauts to the ISS.   three astronauts were being carried() to the ISS.

2  During the mission he undertook an extravehicular activity outside the ISS.

An extravehicular activity was undertaken() during the mission.

4   They had to use a special device to go to the bathroom.

5   NASA will bring the astronauts home safely.

Space

1. Space Race
2. ISS
3. A Colony on the Moon?
4. Mission to Mars
   
5. Science Fiction
   • Space Oddity
   • Lost in Space
   • Mars attacks
6. Guided Writing

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