Tag: ASTRONAUT

It's no secret that the Japanese love their robots. But the country's space agency, JAXA, is hoping that other nations will enjoy its android creations, too. The country of cutting-edge 'bots is planning to send a humanoid robot to the ISS, where it will monitor the health and stress levels of astronauts, and report back via Twitter. ...

For the last-ever Space Shuttle mission, NASA has decided to let civilians vote on the astronauts' "wake up songs." Voters can choose from a list of past tunes (which includes ironic hits like "Free Fallin'" and "Rocket Man"), or upload a composition of their own. To our NASA friends: we have your solution. We've already rounded up some pretty sweet, spacey jams. Use them, and thank us later. ...

Nearly forty years after Yuri Gagarin became the first person in outer space, Denmark is set to become the fourth nation ever to put a man into orbit (following Russia, the U.S., and China). More importantly, however, they are doing it without government funding, and, if successful, will be the first nation in history to do so. The team, the Copenhagen Suborbitals, is made up of Danish ...

East recently met West in a tale of astronaut suits and cosmic gloves, flying in the face of the Cold War-era Space Race and its resulting political divide. That is to say, a Russian guy and a dude from Brooklyn collaboratively designed a new spacesuit, and unveiled it Friday at New York's Eyebeam Art and Technology Center. Nikolay Moiseev, from Moscow, and Ted Southern, from our favorite ...

There's a load of great tech news happening out there every day, and, unfortunately, we just can't cover it all. Here are a few of the other noteworthy things we saw today on our never-ending journey through the wild, wild Web. Astronaut Souichi Noguchi is snapping shots from the International Space Station. He's posting the photos to the Web via Twitpic. Our favorite? The Moon, from Space. ...

We know that we've said this before, but we officially have our first Tweet from space! The message sent by astronaut Mike Massimino back in May? That doesn't count anymore. Massimino's quip from orbit was not sent "live," but was actually posted by ground control, to whom he'd e-mailed his missive. Now, Timothy Creamer has bumped Massimino out of the Twitter history books by updating his ...

When we were kids, we loved to slap old motorcycle helmets on our heads and run around the neighborhood pretending to be astronauts. Our own obsession with outer space faded some with age, but for many, space, and the moon in particular, never loses its luster. If you count yourself as a space junkie, you might want to peep this Apollo Lunar Lander from Space Toys. All you need is a fat wallet ...

digg_url ='http://www.switched.com/2009/12/03/first-space-beer-made-with-astro-barley-sold-on-earth/'; Apparently, there's not a lot of work to do on the International Space Station (ISS) these days. Who needs important scientific research anyway? Instead, some Russians and Japanese astronauts decided to grow some barley and make some home-brewed brew. According to the Telegraph, Japan's ...

We could tell you all the scientific stuff right out of the box, but first things first, good readers. Mice are now capable of flight. Or, at least, float, thanks to the efforts of NASA scientists. Apparently not content with pigeons, researchers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California have successfully used magnetic fields to introduce yet another species of filthy vermin to ...

Eating five-year-old food doesn't sound too appetizing to us. But to the astronauts that NASA will eventually send to Mars, it'll taste as good as any five-star restaurant's fare. Well, maybe not that good, but it will be the sole sustenance for that group of men and women during their grueling trip into outer space. According to the Los Angeles Times, NASA will need to pack enough food to feed ...

After four months in space, Koichi Wakata is returning to Earth -- and bringing his astronaut underwear with him. According to the Associated Press, scientists will be examining these experimental anti-bacterial, flame retardant, antistatic, and water-absorbent briefs. More importantly, the underwear (dubbed "J-Wear") is designed to be odor-free. Designed in Japan, the undies are made of a ...

Gatorade has some competition now. Coolers bearing that famous logo -- green block letters with an orange lightning bolt in the background -- might soon be replaced on the sideline, in the dugout, and on the bench. On June 11th, NASA began publicly offering its own sports drink, developed almost 20 years ago to save astronauts from muscle fatigue and dehydration. You can buy it online now, and ...

The process of an ongoing study by NASA sounds more like the typical lifestyle of a college student than a science experiment. In order to study the effects of micro-gravity on the human body, NASA is looking for participants willing to lie in bed for one month straight. NASA provides an endless stream of movies and video games, and a paycheck of $160 per day. Sounds like the deal of a lifetime, ...

Twitter is rapidly approaching the final frontier. In the months leading up to NASA's final shuttle mission to service the Hubble Telescope, astronaut Mike Massimino is using Twitter to keep his readers up-to-date on his training (and his everyday life). Massimino, a mission specialist and spacewalker, will be along for the ride on the space shuttle Atlantis during the STS-125 mission. The space ...

Truthfully, there's just not enough work being done in the area of advanced underpants, so we're absolutely elated to hear that textile experts at Japan Women's University in Tokyo are picking up the slack and moving forward with an amazing development. Koichi Wakata, the first Japanese astronaut to live on the International Space Station, is current testing the "odor-free" clothing, and it's ...