Tuesday, September 8, 2009

The trash is coming, the trash is coming - Discovery returning

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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/08/science/space/08brfs-SHUTTLEASTRO_BRF.html?_r=1
NATIONAL BRIEFING | SPACE AND TECHNOLOGY
Shuttle Astronauts Prepare to Leave Space Station
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 7, 2009

The astronauts aboard the orbiting shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station will soon part company. The 13 space travelers had a final job to accomplish together before the hatches between their spacecraft were closed, transferring a moving van holding a ton of trash and discarded equipment back aboard the Discovery. It was delivered by the shuttle, fully loaded with supplies, and moved onto the space station last week. The shuttle will undock on Tuesday and is due back at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday

A version of this article appeared in print on September 8, 2009, on page A16 of the New York edition
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The ISS is not self sufficient. A lot of items are brought up. Later what you don't want and can't use, has to go somewhere.

My garbage pickup is Wednesday and every other Wednesday there is a recycle pickup. On alternate Wednesdays the yard clippings get recycled.

What do you do if you live on a small island? Where do all the aluminum pop cans go? What about paper and cardboard and other unmentionables?

What will you do with your trash at a Lunar Base?

So far the Apollo missions just tossed their wrappers, tools, and other items.

Historically cities have been built on trash dumps. In Silicon Valley, here in California, there are gulf courses, event stadiums, and business buildings built over land fill.

You can tap the methane gas that is generated under the clay topping seal. Helps make electricity for a local baseball park.

Too bad I don't have a portable garbage plasma destructor that could reduce the plastics and organics to pure elements. Could use a lot of the hydrogen and carbon and constituents to make new compounds.
- LRK -

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http://discovermagazine.com/2007/may/the-ultimate-garbage-disposal
The Ultimate Garbage Disposal
A power station eats up dirty landfill and churns out clean electricity.
by Tony McNicol
From the May 2007 issue, published online May 18, 2007

What could be better than a power station that eats up dirty landfill and churns out clean electricity? One facility in Utashinai, Japan, has been doing just that since 2003, using plasma—an electrically induced stream of hot, charged particles—to process up to 220 tons of municipal solid waste a day. Now a bigger and better $425 million plant is scheduled for completion by 2009 in Saint Lucie County, Florida. The operator, Atlanta-based Geoplasma, expects it to generate 160 megawatts of electricity—enough to power 36,000 homes—from a daily diet of trash.
snip
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http://cleantechnica.com/2008/11/10/plasma-technology-turns-trash-into-gas/
Plasma Technology Turns Trash into Gas
Written by Ariel Schwartz
Published on November 10th, 2008 in alternative fuels

An Atlanta, GA-based company called Geoplasma is using trash to provide power to 50,000 homes in Florida. The company’s plasma refuse plant, which should be online by 2011, is a first for the United States. It will process 1,500 tons of garbage each day and send 60 MW of power to the grid.

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We live on spaceship Earth and even if we don't develop the Moon's resources, we can always do better with what we have at hand.
- LRK -

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lrkellogg
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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