Now that the shuttle has delivered the 1 billion dollar Kibo module from Japan to the International Space Station, I have a question:

Just what are they doing up there?

I know they do a lot of press conferences and TV sent to schools but I haven't heard of any real science being done on the ISS lately.

Of course, we're getting some information on how to live in space for extended periods of time but we could have done that (and did) on Skylab. The biggest news I've heard about the ISS lately has been about the Russians wanting to hit a golf ball into the void and a faulty toilet.

As for science I can't think of much except for some High School experiments with honey bees and something about growing crystals. And there's some space tourism too.

And when it comes to spin-off technologies for us here on Earth I can't think of anything. Nothing like the Apollo program.

Could someone fill me in on what the accomplishments of the ISS have been?

NASA has an extensive list of published research here.

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I see I’m not the only skeptic around here. I hope you have your bee suit on because you may have hit the hornets’ nest with a rock.

Looking at the link provided I see a lot of experiments in the human biology area. This says to me that it will extend the knowledge base and potential treatment for medical issues for astronauts. But how much of it will translate to Earth based medicine will be minimal I suspect.

But hey at least it gives us a good reason to fire off those shuttles.

Not to mention on the front page of UT, there's the story of new transistors being tested on the ISS. These things are flexible too!

even if they don't "do anything" up there, there are thousands of our best and brightest working "down here" to build and maintain the thing, which is where all the stuff is really learned and applied. it's not like they bring a module packed full of cash up there and open the airlock once they get docked and watch the money float away.
plus, it keeps our smartest people busy and gainfully employed, which is a good thing.

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Vergara A, Lober B, Sauter C, Giege R, Zagari A. Lessons from crystals grown in the Advanced Protein Crystallisation Facility for conventional crystallization applied to structural biology. Biophysical Chemistry. 2005 ;118:102-112.

The Agricultural Camera (AgCam) will take frequent images, in visible and infrared light, of vegetated areas on the Earth, principally of growing crops, rangeland, grasslands, forests, and wetlands in the northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountain regions of the United States. Images will be delivered within 2 days directly to requesting farmers, ranchers, foresters, natural resource managers and tribal officials to help improve their environmental stewardship of the land for which they are responsible. Images will also be shared with educators for classroom use. The Agricultural Camera was built and will be operated primarily by students and faculty at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND.

Binary Colloidal Alloy Test - 3 and 4: Critical Point (BCAT-3-4-CP) will determine phase separation rates and add needed points to the phase diagram of a model critical fluid system. Crewmembers photograph samples of polymer and colloidal particles (tiny nanoscale spheres suspended in liquid) that model liquid/gas phase changes. Results will help scientists develop fundamental physics concepts previously cloaked by the effects of gravity.

Binodal Colloidal Aggegation Test - 4: Polydispersion (BCAT-4-Poly) will use model hard-spheres to explore seeded colloidal crystal nucleation and the effects of polydispersity, providing insight into how nature brings order out of disorder. Crewmembers photograph samples of polymer and colloidal particles (tiny nanoscale spheres suspended in liquid) that model liquid/gas phase changes. Results will help scientists develop fundamental physics concepts previously cloaked by the effects of gravity.

J. Gebelein, D., Eppler. How Earth remote sensing from the International Space Station complements current satellite-based sensors. International Journal of Remote Sensing 2006 ;27 (13):2613-2629.

Stumpf RP, Holderied K, Robinson JA, Feldman G, Kuring N. Mapping water depths in clear water from space. Proceedings of the 13th Biennial Coastal Zone Conference. 2003 .

And that's just some of the stuff, and I only looked through the C's. Yep, all they do on that ISS is study astronaut medical issues, particularly that old guy Glenn. Man the whole space program is such a complete waste. And I can't figure out why a website full of people who love space and astronomy don't agree with me when I prove it to them.

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[quote=Swift;1261682...
And that's just some of the stuff, and I only looked through the C's. Yep, all they do on that ISS is study astronaut medical issues, particularly that old guy Glenn. Man the whole space program is such a complete waste. And I can't figure out why a website full of people who love space and astronomy don't agree with me when I prove it to them.[/QUOTE]

It seems to me that the original question was more in line with asking whether or not the portion of the space budget dedicated to the ISS was appropriate or whether that money might have been spent on other space-related research more effectively. What is your opinion when the issue is phrased in that manner ?

My comments were in response to Samkent. I don't know what the intent of the OP was, other than knowing the accomplishments, to which I supplied information.

I don't have a quick answer to your question. I would need a lot more detail about the relative costs of the different NASA programs to even begin to answer it.

I don't have strong opinions about one NASA program versus another. I have strong opinions about NASA funding versus other things, but my thoughts are too political for this forum.

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Oh well, that does it. Cancel the whole program. disassemble NASA. Lay wast to all that infrastructure. Lay them all off... Kick it to the curb. We can not afford it.

And while you think that is a joke, it is. I fear some would have it pegged as seriouse... Oh no, not from this quarter.
We must understand the gains ahead of us are worth the effort. Before you wade in and insult me further please consider the gains made this century. Electronics and medicine. Even the automobile has gained enormously. Have you noticed the x-ray dept., has some new toys... the GPS in your cars. your digital TV. The MP3 or Ipod.
You mention the problems with the wast convenience on board the ISS. As if that was a wast of time or effort. No, its absolutely critical that in a weightless environment that presents some difficult problems that a clean effective wast system is established. I invite you to search the NASA site for more of this subject. Its a important part of our moving into space. Its easy to be flippant and brush aside these things as trivial. they could be the key to whole technology's we have not yet imagined. I remind you that many great inventions were not the intended purpose of the discoverer. A belows pump for a furnace was where the fridge was born. The USA and NASA have found many technology's in the quest for space. Please reconsider your point. Mark.

I’ve been waiting on the results of that one. My colloidal has been acting up lately. Some of them sound like an excuse for not cutting the grass. Like this one farther down the list.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/st...ments/TFS.html

Is that one really worth the time involved? Or this one

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/st...nts/NOA-1.html

It doesn’t sound like you need to be in orbit to conduct this one.

The OP asked is the ISS accomplishing anything not are they busy up there. After 50 years of sending people up there we still have to send up basic supplies. Like food and air and water. The only thing that they are not Earth dependant on is electricity. If you want to impress me come up with a reusable substitute for toilet paper. How much of that stuff would they have to take on a Mars trip?

1. I don't imagine that this would actually impress you. (I've seen this technology in Fancy French Hotels).
2. I think that the science they choose to do also has little to do with trying to impress you.
3. For myself, I'd rather have seen more money put into robotic probes, but I understand that this was a broader choice than just mine, and folks at the top felt that we still needed heroes to inspire the schoolchildren.

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WHat's wrong with this one? Some things work differently in Microgravity.

Sounds like an 'If I ran the Zoo' type argument.

What should they be doing?

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Your's too? I work in the ceramics industry and colloids and dispersions are an essential part of our products. There are also extremely important in coatings, paint, pharma, etc. Studying such things under fundamentally different conditions (like microgravity) can give essential insights into their behavior and in developing theories to explain such behavior.

As Captain Swoop said, what do you think they should be studying?

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Just few things would be nice. Like how to become self sufficient in orbit. Or even a toilet that doesn’t need baggies. We’re doing ok in the paint and pharma departments. Several options there. But the toilet seems to languish in the back room. No real advances in that area. While the bidet is helpful, sometimes it can use a lot of water.
Isn't the ISS about learning to live and work in space?

As much as we all love NASA we have to remember its still a government program. Just like Social Security, the military and any other government program its always good to look back and see if the money was well spent and if the original goals for the ISS from the mid 1990's were met.

I think the record is spotty at best. Remember the ISS will cost the US (taxpayers) $53 billion through 2016 in a very conservative estimate. This number includes shuttle operations which have almost been used exclusively for the ISS since the Columbia disaster. The current ISS is the most expensive object built ever.

Additionally, various other space agencies, like the European Space Agency, will push the total expense toward $85 billion.

I'm not for turning off the lights and locking the front door (or hatch). We might as well use it to do what science and research we can.

After all, its already been paid for.