Iran’s space agency, Sázmán e Fazái e Irán, strapped a gray-tufted monkey in an infant’s car seat and shot the poor thing into space. The critter is said to look unhappy after its 72-mile vertical voyage, perhaps because it landed back in Iran. The unnamed beastie joins a menagerie of critter cosmonauts who’ve rocketed into the void over the past half-century:
Former Astronaut Lisa Nowak was retired from the U.S. Navy under conditions “less than honorable” last week. The former Navy Captain had flown on Space Shuttle Discovery in July 2006, operating the robotic arms of the shuttle and the International Space Station. She also operated a complex personal life, culminating in 2007 with a 900 mile non-stop drive from Houston to Orlando to confront Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman, a romantic rival for the affections of former space shuttle pilot Bill Oefelein.
To boldly go where no man has gone before …. Manned space flight presents a unique set of challenges. When you go to into space, sooner or later you have to … well, go. The International Space Station has presented a unique challenge to waste-removal engineers: the zero-gravity toilet.
Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa has been lifted to the International Space Station by a Soyuz rocket. What will Dr. Furukawa do in outer space? Grow cucumbers. And maybe some tomatoes.
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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When NASA’s space shuttle Endeavour blasts off on mission STS-134 it will carry several non-human passengers. They are cephalopods, squid.
Calamari for cosmonauts? No. This is part of a controlled experiment that will finally answer the vital scientific question “Hey, what would happen if we launched some squid into Outer Space?”
Forget about the Bridge to Nowhere. Congress just funded a dud NASA rocket for half a billion dollars.
That’s the Ares I rocket. It was supposed to launch humans into space. Many of those scarce taxpayer dollars will go to Alliant Techsystems for a solid fuel rocket engine. But NASA cancelled the Ares I, and future manned missions will probably use liquid-fueled vehicles.
Congress just passed a Continuing Resolution with specific language funding the cancelled rocket. Why?The Aries I project is run out of Huntsville Alabama, and Senator Richard Shelby of that state is on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Laura Martinez informs us that Mexico’s Cámara de Diputados officially approved AEXA, the Mexican Space Agency (Agencia Espacial Mexicana) last week. Supporters included two space contractors and former NASA astronaut José Moreno Hernández. Chewy Pulido provides an artist’s concept of the first Mexican spaceship.
NASA’s Evel Knievel Memorial Space Stunt Program aims at putting humans in space for the scientific purpose of … putting humans in space. Italy now brings some European sophistication to this effort.
NASA’s idea of “sophistication” was spelling the name of a space shuttle “Endeavour” instead of “Endeavor” back in 1987. Monday morning the same creaking craft hurled aloft with improvements for the International Space Shoppes (ISS).
Europe is opening two new Space Shoppes modules, the utilitarian Tranquility and the stylish Cupola. The latter (pictured above) offers diners scenic space vistas, and will complement the Asian fare of Japan’s austere Kibo Noodle Shop.
With Cupola in place, the ISS Food Court of Nations will be virtually complete. Thank goodness the International Space Toilet was repaired. Twice.
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
In the vast human adventure that is the U.S. manned space program, NASA engineers fixed the broken toilet in the International Space Station yesterday, just in time to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first walk on the lunar surface.
Today Americans celebrate the events of July 20, 1969, when Man walked on the Moon, declared Victory in Space, and went home. Forty years later, the U.S. space effort means car GPS, XM Radio, and satellite TV.
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