international space station

Bowie hit at zero gravity

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Colonel Chris Hadfield has signed off after five months as commander of the International Space Station by performing David Bowie’s Space Oddity in zero gravity.

The Canadian handed over command of the ISS to Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov this morning.

But before returning to Earth, Hadfield performed an evocative version of Bowie’s 1969 hit while floating with a guitar through the ISS.

The stunning video, which has been posted and shared online, is made all the more amazing because of the views of Earth and space through the windows of the ISS.

The lyrics are also perfectly fitting.

‘‘Here I am, sitting in a tin can, far above the world,’’ Hadfield sings.

‘‘Planet Earth is blue … and there’s nothing left to do.’’

Hadfield, the first Canadian to walk in space, left Earth on December 19, 2012, and has spent five month aboard the ISS.

But his tour has not been without incident, including an emergency spacewalk on the weekend to fix an ammonia leak.

Hadfield is due to return to Earth later this week aboard a Russian Soyuz space capsule that will land in Kazakhstan.

The 53-year-old former fighter pilot has become something of an  internet sensation during his time in space, posting a series of  pictures and videos from the ISS. Among them was a lesson in space station cooking.

He’s also got 775,000 followers on Twitter, thanks to his string of social media updates from the ISS.

– AAP

http://www.stuff.co.nz/science/8666665/Bowie-hit-at-zero-gravity

Astronaut tweets pic of Auckland shining bright

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Auckland at night

Picture – CHRIS HADFIELD

BEACON: Auckland from the space station.

 

A Canadian astronaut on the International Space Station has photographed a bright Auckland at night – and tweeted it.

“Holding a third of New Zealand’s population, it radiates like a beacon between the harbours,” International Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield said this morning.

Yesterday he tweeted a picture of Christchurch just after Earth Hour ended on Saturday.

The international effort involves cutting lights and electricity use between 8.30pm and 9.30pm in an effort to cut carbon emissions.

Aboard the space station, Hadfield, who has made a speciality out of photographing the Earth, said on Twitter he was going to photograph the Earth Hour efforts.

A little while later he said it turned out that orbital mechanics did not support seeing the lights out effort.

But in one of his pictures he caught Christchurch just after Earth Hour ended.

“The perfect grid system of the downtown core is clearly visible,” he says.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8468327/Astronaut-tweets-pic-of-Auckland-shining-bright

 

Astronaut tweets photo of Mt Taranaki

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Mt Taranaki, as seen from space. Photo / Twitter

A NASA astronaut has today tweeted out a picture of Mt Taranaki as seen from the International Space Station.

Thomas H. Marshburn, who has just over 12,000 followers on Twitter, sent a message at about 12:45pm New Zealand time.

“More volcano-spotting! Mt. Taranaki on New Zealand’s North Island served as the backdrop in the movie The Last Samurai,” he said.

The photo shows a clear view of the 2518-metre-high mountain, with the Taranaki coastline seen to the west.

Mt Taranaki is known as one of the most symmetrical volcanic cones in the world and, because of its resemblance to Mount Fuji, was used at the backdrop for The Last Samurai.

[Read More – New Zealand Herald]