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It might not seem as interesting as the recent delivery of the new room and viewing dome to the ISS by the shuttle Endeavor, but another arguably more important task accomplished by the shuttle crew was the rejuvenation of the water recovery system on board the space station, with the distillation assembly being refurbished and the fluids control pump assembly replaced.

And so what you might be saying?! 

Well the significance is that our bodies consist roughly of two thirds water and thus a continual intake is vital for survival. You could live on average between 3 to 7 days without water (depending on environment) but as little as a 10% fluid loss is likely to prove fatal if not treated immediately. 
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The space shuttle Endeavor landed successfully this Sunday 21st Feb 2010, at 10.20pm EST at Nasa´s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, at the end of another 2 week mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Night time landings are quite rare with this being only the 23rd landing in darkness out of the 130 flights to date, the last one also involving Endeavour back in 2008.

The countdown clock is now well and truly ticking for the space shuttles, with only four more flights planned before they are moth-balled, never to fly again. The four remaining flights scheduled to end with the flight of Discovery, mission STS-133 in September this year, will be used to stock the ISS with more experiments, spare parts and supplies, with future provisions being delivered by spacecraft from Russia, Europe and Japan.
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Last week saw the release by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) in the UK of the latest batch of unidentified flying object (UFO) related sightings covering the years 1994 to 2000. Over 6000 previously top secret pages detail hundreds of "not of this world" experiences involving close encounters, strange flying objects and eerie lights in the sky!

1996 seems to have been a very busy year for our alien friends with no fewer than 609 reports of sightings being filed with the MOD. Most simply involve descriptions of strange unexplained lights or objects in the sky that leave behind no evidence afterwards, however, just occasionally there is a case that seems to be a little more complex.
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Wednesday this week (17th Feb 2010) saw the opening for the first time of the shutters on the newly installed Cupola windows, fitted to the Tranquility module of the International Space Station (ISS). This recently fitted new module and the cupola were delivered as part of the shuttle Endeavour's  STS-130 mission and now means the ISS, first launched in 1998, is over 90% complete. The new viewing point is 5 foot tall and 10 foot in diameter, giving a 360 degree view of the outside space, the ISS, and planet Earth itself.

I should like to volunteer my services as a window cleaner when they need doing next please!
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Rocketman Dan Schlund
This week saw the spectacular 2010 Rio de Janeiro Carnival take place – one of the greatest shows on earth. The show should have seen stuntman Dan Schlund swooping over the school of Portela samba parade 5 times with a jetpack strapped to his back

Similar to the Manned Manoeuvring Unit (MMU) originally developed in the 1980’s by NASA and first used in 1984 for three space shuttle missions, the jetpack was supposed to propel the rocketman over the thousands of people taking part in the parade in the sambadrome.

Sadly though, with a splutter and a bang the display fizzled out on the practice run when a leak from one of the nitrogen fuel tanks left the pilot with a red face, and a  couple of people suffering from second degree burns! Back to the drawing board maybe Dan!!

Parabens & congratulations to the Unidos da Tijuca samba group (video below) who after 74 years of trying won this years parade with their theme "It's a secret".

The Rio de Janeiro carnival parades are in my humble opinion one of the most amazing annual displays on planet Earth! So it always disappoints me that the only coverage in the UK seems to be the occaisonal 30 seconds worth of footage - come on BBC . . . . more please, you are missing a truly breath-taking explosion of colour, vibrance and creativity!  Next years dates are March 4th to March 8th 2011 - I hope to be there - why not come along too! 
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Hello World!

Welcome to the musings and observations of a Brazilian Space Doc who fell in love with the stars at the age of 5 one wet and miserable day in Rio de Janeiro.

Had it not been raining a lot that summer, had I not been bored and bugging my mother, then possibly she would not have taken me to the planetarium and so perhaps my young mind would not have been blown away by the display of the universe and beyond. From that moment on my dream of visiting the stars for myself one day was set - am still working on that one! 

I hope to set down here over the coming months a few thoughts, some topical news, and hopefully a few things of interest for you. Please feel free to pop in when you can and spare a few moments to read my ramblings. Comments, questions or suggestions always welcome.

Cheers
Thais    
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