Tag archives for Shuttle Missions
Posted by The space shuttle Discovery lifted off on Sunday, carrying a human guinea pig with the crew! Astronaut Koichi Wakata will be the first Japanese astronaut to have a long stay in the International Space Station. His visit will be three months long.
Since there are no washing machines aboard the space station, Wakata will need to take enough clothes to last for his entire stay. That’s a lot of underwear and socks! Wakata will report on the state of his underwear, wire himself with sensors, and he’ll perform tests such as arm wrestling to help scientists back on Earth understand the effects of living in space.
Read more about the mission on National Geographic News.
See pictures of space shuttles in the Photo Gallery.
Photograph by Susan Poulton
The space shuttle Endeavour blasted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 7:55 p.m. EST on Friday, November 14. The shuttle docked with the International Space Station on November 15, and is scheduled to return with its crew of seven astronauts on November 27.
The shuttle carried important cargo to the space station, including a new toilet and a water purifier that will make sweat and urine into drinkable water!
See more pictures of the shuttle launch on National Geographic’s Breaking Orbit blog.
