[Kip Currier: Tuesday, November 6, 2018 (also Midterms Election Day in the U.S.), the University of Pittsburgh hosted Destination Station--a NASA traveling educational effort to raise awareness of the 15-nations International Space Station, NASA's recent-past missions and future ones, and research conducted in space that yields real-world commercial opportunities and benefits here on Earth. Some of that research leads to "patentable subject matter", as I'll highlight below.
This is the press release that Pitt sent out before the 11/6/18 event:
"Destination Station is making its way to Pittsburgh and landing on Pitt’s campus at the University Club on Tuesday, November 6!
At Destination Station, NASA astronauts, scientists and staff partner with the ISS to share the real and potential impacts of the space station on our everyday lives through general public events, researcher meetings, educational activities and legislative discussions.
The space station utilizes microgravity, extreme conditions and low-Earth orbit to provide a unique science platform, which has currently enabled over 2,400 researchers in 95 countries to conduct more than 2,000 innovative experiments. Since 2000, the station has supported investigations in the areas of biology and biotechnology, human health, technology demonstrations and Earth, space and physical science. To learn more about the space station, please visit www.nasa.gov/station."
NASA Astronaut Mike Fincke, Col., USAF, gave a fascinating presentation. Col. Fincke is originally from Emsworth, Pennsylvania, just north of Pittsburgh. He was a member of the July 2011 final mission of The Endeavour Space Shuttle, which was also the historic final Space Shuttle mission (see here and here).
Col. Fincke told some very memorable stories, some with photos. One photo showed him as a young boy launching a rocket near the Buhl Planetarium (I remember fondly the excitement of visiting here as well, on school and family visits!), which was located on Pittsburgh's North Side. He noted how lucky it was that the photo managed to capture the trail of his rocket as it rose into the air--as this was before the many upshot options of digital photography! Little could he have imagined, he said, that some thirty years later, he would be strapped into a Soyuz Rocket at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazahkhstan, blasting up to the International Space Station, which was constructed between 1998 and 2011 by 15 nations, including the U.S.
He also showed some photos of other noteworthy experiences; like visiting the set of TV show Star Trek Enterprise (the underrated 2001-2005 prequel series to The Original Star Trek of the 1960's) and meeting actor Scott Bakula (top right image in the photo assortment below), who played Enterprise Captain Jonathan Archer.
(The beginning credits to Star Trek Enterprise show real footage of significant aviation and space exploration-related historical events--like the International Space Station at the 1:02 mark--with a few futuristic spacecraft renderings at the end, depicting the Trek universe's first deep space-venturing ships.)
Col. Fincke's talk provided background about the International Space Station (ISS).
One "Fun Fact": the Station orbits Earth once every 90 minutes (at an altitude of 256 miles above the planet).
Here are some slides about research conducted in space:
Some examples of the kinds of research done on the Station. Col. Fincke mentioned that Proctor & Gamble secured several patents from the Colloidal Stability research. And that Flame Retardant findings help firefighters and consumers.
Col. Fincke shared his excitement about humans going to Mars and beyond, with spacecraft like the Orion:
A trailer parked outside offered a brief video about the International Space Station and a look at a rock from Earth's moon:
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