Atlantis spacewalkers snapped through shuttle windows

Doesn't pencil lead...

...fly about and short out electirics or something?

How about the 10 button calculators?

Pencils aside, what about the 2 calculators with only 10 buttons?

Or are they something else?

Cleanest rubber I've ever seen!

Either that lot have very little to do up there, or they just never make a mistake in their scribblings.

Anyway, never mind the pencil - what's the BIG RED BUTTON on top of the joystick for?

thats odd

I would have thought pencils were a no-no due to the tendency to break into smaller bits when used. I thought they used pressurised ink pens?

Erm....

I may be wrong, but aren't pencils in space a bad thing ... especially the "mechanical" type that are prone to snapping off. Small lumps of conductive graphite floating uncontrollably around all that sensitive electronic kit could result in a panicked call to Housten!

Proof...

....this is like the whole landing-on-the-moon-thingy! What proof is there that they are actually in orbit?

Isn't it the International Space Station they are docked to?

The Russians are just sharing their tech.

So they *have* learnt from the Russians at last!

You used to be able to get "Fisher Space Pens" (I used to have one), which were supposed to be based on a multi-squillion dollar NASA project to make a pen that could write upside down and in zero gravity, as ordinary pens wouldn't work in space.

The UL is that when the first US-Soviet join programme, Apollo-Soyuz went up, the American astronauts showed off their space pens and asked the Russians how they'd addressed the problem. "We use pencils" was the reply.

never mind the pencil...

a joke's a joke, but "C'mon, guys, let us back in now!!!!"

Mine's the one with the not-perfectly-airtight seals at wrists and ankles.

Timers?

They look more like kitchen timers than calculators to me.

Probably to keep track of how long the spacewalkers have been outside.

(Mines the one with the jetpack on the back)

Are you sure...

... they're not offering to wipe the windows over with a dirty sponge and a knackered squeegee and charge $10,000,000 for the "service"?

Not so silly calculators

Don't forget the Shuttle was designed about the time the first calculators came out... and then it takes about 2000 years to get flight certification for a toilet seat, never mind anything complex like a pencil.

I did attend a speech by a shuttle astronaut in the 80's (or early 90's i dont recall) and he admitted that they used a "laptop" (as in big black thing mains-only crush-your-knees ) propped up on the dashboard to show them a map of the world and where they were over it. (even saw a photo)

Anyway, the things that look like calculators are probably there to warn the astronauts when to change the lead on the pencil.

I dunno 'bout the rest of u...

...but I'd be a darned sight annoyed at two workmen gawping thru the window at me every few seconds. "Oy! make us a cuppa tea mate". I dread to think what their hourly rate is!

Nice to know that Nasa are pointing out such slackers. Such cowboy builders need naming and shaming. I mean their work is only good for another decade or so probably too, you'll 'ave to get the buggers back in again in time.

White number pads

Aren't those white and black numeric pads timers? That would explain the lack of buttons.

Not calculators...

Those are timers. Easier and more reliable than trying to tie in a new component into the Shuttle's existing panel assemblies, but very useful for keeping track (in ship) of outside activities, especially those that are sensitive to how much time you have left (air, etc).

No worries, I'm sure they were sourced with the same attention to detail and appropriate expenditure.

Yep - space is too expensive to be left to commercial or private endeavors. Not safe for 'em. No siree.

Stop the presses!

NASA uses mechanical pencils in space! OMG!

</sarcasm>

Let me guess....slow news day?

Kitchen timers

They're not pocket calculators, they're off-the-shelf kitchen timers. Also there's a dispenser of Post-It page markers on the LH windowsill, one stuck just above the joystick. I do like the aftermarket velcro fittings though - Pimp My Shuttle.

Weird Calculators

Actually they look quite like a gazillion $ kitchen timer...

Those aren't calculators..

They're kitchen timers.

And those aren't windows, they're oven doors.

Roasted space-man anyone?

What about...

Forget "shards of graphite" floating into electronics.. what about them floating into YOUR EYE!?

The 10-button devices are actually programmable timers upon inspecting the larger picture.

As for the shiny red button atop the joystick I suspect the stick controls the robotic arm in the shuttle's cargo bay, and the button operates the grapple or other actuator. No lasers here.

A prototype

for the iPen, i suppose.

Foam cleaner

They could have got the cleaners to tidy up a bit before taking off, i think i can see a coffee stain in the top left corner .

Paris as she is also dirty.

Software Stop !

In the high resolution version of the photo, I'm more impressed by the "Software Stop" switch. I think all appliances should come with this.

untitled

Last time I checked, ISS stood for INTERNATIONAL space station, so this is probably a British propelling pencil.

That is no propelling pencil...

...in fact I have an almost identical item in my hand. It is an El Cheapo clutch pencil, real throw away job. Rather worrying that NASA would let this into ISS. Why? Well my pencil the lead breaks off about every two minutes producing a piece 2mm long and when you get to the end a 20mm long piece comes out, then when you use the eraser (sorry rubber) and lots of little rubber crumbs appear. Down here on Earth I just brush off my desktop and it all falls on the floor. No problem. Up there. Well?

"Jack the toilet failed again". "Let me see - woah it's full of little rubber bits, the seal must have failed"

"Pasha that's a nasty cough you got there - keep it up it might go away"