ISS astronaut photographs Perseid meteor from space

[naskies (Dave)]

So very cool!

http://news.discovery.com/space/astr...ce-110814.html

[iceman (Mike)]

Thanks for the link Dave, what a great photo!

[RB (Andrew)]

Very cool indeed !

[troypiggo (Troy)]

I think that instead of taking photos of them, I'd be huddled in a corner in the fetal position praying they didn't hit the ISS!

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

What a great shot. I wonder how often they see these from orbit.

[naskies (Dave)]

Originally Posted by troypiggo

I think that instead of taking photos of them, I'd be huddled in a corner in the fetal position praying they didn't hit the ISS!

Funny you say that... I was listening to a recent episode of Dr Karl's Science on Mornings on the Triple J radio station where they had Dr Gregory Chamitoff as a guest. He's an astronaut and was on the last Atlantis mission.

On the show, he said that NASA tracks all objects in space larger than a golf ball (I think) to determine whether they'd be on a collision course with the ISS. If they detect it early enough, they'll manoeuvre the ISS out of the way. Otherwise, if they can't or if it will still be a close call, all the astronauts get into the Soyuz escape pod and huddle there until the object passes. Scary stuff!

If you're interested, the full podcast is available here:

http://www.abc.net.au/science/audio/...04/3285361.htm

[Ric]

That's an image you dont see every day.

That's also a scary thought sitting in a Soyuz pod listening to things bounce of the hull.

[joeallen (Joe)]

It's far less scary than driving a car down the freeway, or past the Wellington street speed camera. Far less scary than eating food made in china.