VIDEO: Alka-Seltzer + Water Droplet In Zero Gravity

On November 16, 2014 by Tim Newman

The International Space Station (ISS) has been whizzing around planet earth for years now. It’s constantly manned by astronauts and/or scientists. They conduct a miriad of experiments 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Some of the experiments on the ISS focus on the life we have on earth and how it reacts in space; other experiments test equipment and materials for future use in extreme conditions, whether that’s space or the arctic or deep oceans. Some of their experiments, however, seem more like super expensive mucking about. I don’t begrudge them a bit of mucking about though, they’re up in space for months at a time and when else are they going to get to muck about in zero gravity?

Here’s a video created under the guise of an experiment by one of the ISS chaps. He adds an Alka Seltzer tablet to a blob of floating water. It’s interesting just because it is:

 

 

Whilst I was hanging around in the “weird stuff in space” section of the internet I found someone popping a water balloon in micro gravity, so I guess I may as well put this here for you too:

 

 

I also accidentally came across some of NASA’s ISS experiments on the behaviour of fire in a zero gravity, low atmosphere environment. For the sake of completion here’s a look at that video too:

 

 

Next we’ve got a T-handle, whatever one of those is. Physics is still the same in space (obviously), but sometimes you wouldn’t think so:

 

 

If you could do any space experiment you wanted to, what would it be? Personally I would like to eat a donner kebab in zero gravity. It would be ace because even if a bit of the meat fell out, it wouldn’t hit the floor, it would just stay there hanging about your face, ripe for the plucking. You could probably have a large dollop of garlic mayo hover conveniently nearby too.

MORE SPACE:

HOW TO CLEAN YOUR TEETH IN SPACE

CLOUDS CASTING 1000 MILE SHADOWS FROM SPACE

NASA SUN BLAST VIDEO

ROSCOSMOS ON INSTAGRAM

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