The International Space Station will be in the news this week. Strictly speaking it will not be the International Space Station but the European Space Agency’s ATV (a robotic space freighter) which is currently attached to the International Space Station. That is now full of rubbish and is at the end of its planned life. It will detach from the International Space Station and then plunge to its destruction over the Pacific Ocean on the 22nd (our time). Information about this can be found online at http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMAX1E1XOG_index_0.html.
As a humorous aside, while it is in the process of disintegrating, it will actually phone home to say how hot it is! My partners comment on this is that it might say “Weather is beautiful. Wish you were here..”. 🙂 The temperature will reach well over a few thousand degrees so that wouldn’t be a good idea.
