YoYos In Spaaaaaaaaaaaaaace

NASA Astronaut Don Pettit is at it again with cool experiments on the ISS. In this episode, Don uses his off-duty time to practice his microgravity yo-yo skills.

How the yoyo behaves is truly amazing, and not at all how you would expect it to. However with the yoyo Don uses, (a free spinning axle - ball-bearing style) clearly demonstrates how gyroscopic action works in micro gravities.

Don Pettit and the Space didgeridoo

Don Pettit, aboard the ISS, once again is putting water drops on his speakers. This time instead of constant tone from a signal generator, Don has fashioned a Didgeridoo out of materials at hand (which happen to be the station's vacuum cleaner hoses) with various attachments to change the tone and ultimately the behavior of the water drops on the speakers. Check out the video of Don
Oh and this is off time activities. He is not playing with hoses and water drops on NASA's dime. Check the video out.

Dragon Docks With ISS

Space X's unmanned supply capsule Dragon was successfully captured by Don Pettit using the International Space Station's (robotic arm. SpaceX is the first private company to dock a spacecraft at the ISS. Dragon is carrying supplies consisting of food, water and clothing and for the ISS crew. After unloading, Dragon will be repacked with equipment to come back to Earth. It is scheduled to detach, do a de-orbit burn and return to Earth on May 31.

The video shows the Iss's "arm" controlled by Pettit capturing the Dragon capsule





Read more at The Telegraph

Demonstration of Water Droplets Orbit a Knitting Needle on the ISS

In this YouTube video we watch as astronaut Don Pettit performs a demonstration of the physics of electrical charges and spheres using of all things, knitting needles. The demonstration is instantly fascinating as Pettit releases small droplets along the length of the needle. You can instantly see the correlation to orbital mechanics even though Pettit takes great pains to caution that theses are static fields in operation and that objects orbiting a body in space are gravitational. Still, Pettit never fails to amaze and fascinate. Check this video out.