Neil Alden Armstrong "Astronaut"

The first man to walk on the moon is celebrated in BBC Four's Being Neil Armstrong (Sunday) Photo: NASA
TheTamshee says: this famous person has some border history, being made a Freeman of Langholm some years ago.

Atlantis Returns

The space shuttle Atlantis and its crew of seven returned to Earth on Sunday, ending their exalted Hubble Space Telescope repair mission in sunny California after stormy weather prevented a return to NASA’s Florida home base. Click Here for Nasa Video footage. Mission Control waited as long as possible for the weather to improve before finally giving up and directing commander Scott Altman and his crew to the Mojave Desert.
Atlantis swooped through a clear morning sky and touched down on the runway at Edwards Air Force Base. “Welcome home, Atlantis,” Mission Control radioed once the shuttle came to a safe stop. “Congratulations on a very successful mission, giving Hubble a new set of eyes that will continue to expand our knowledge of the universe.” TheTamshee: has been debating the shuttle design with some work colleagues. Here's the facts: The space shuttle system is made up of three main components: •The two Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs), which provide 80 percent of launch thrust. •The huge rust-colored External Tank (ET), which feeds fuel to three
Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) during launch•The orbiter itself, which serves as the crew's home in space and is equipped to dock with the International Space Station. NASA has made many safety improvements to the shuttle system, including redesigning and refitting the External Tank to reduce the risk of foam and ice hitting the orbiter during liftoff.

Magic Carpet In Space

A Japanese astronaut has been demonstrating his skills at flying a "magic carpet" while aboard the International Space Station.

Koichi Wakata, 45, was taking part in 16 unusual tasks suggested by the Japanese public - from nursery school children to a 90-year-old man - to show how tricky life can be when in zero gravity.

The suggestions included folding laundry and inserting eye drops. In order to fly his "magic carpet", Mr Wakata had to stick his feet to a white sheet using adhesive tape. He was then able to glide through the Japanese laboratory Kibo (Hope) within the space station. Mr Wataka said: "I flew on this magic carpet by using adhesive tape so that the soles of my feet stayed on it." He also showed particular deftness at inserting eye drops in outer space by squeezing some liquid out, letting it perch on the container and then bringing it to his eye. TheTamshee says: it seems logical that astronauts need to combat stress and what could be better than indulging in some light hearted entertainment, surfing in zero gravity is novel but rather sss-low, I mean it's not going to get the adrenalin flowing

Hubble Telescope "Repaired"

Space shuttle astronauts have sent the restored Hubble telescope off on a new voyage of discovery, bidding it farewell on behalf of the planet. Hubble - considered better than new following five days of repairs and upgrades - will never be seen up close by humans again. The Atlantis shuttle mission was Nasa's last service call to the telescope. The shuttle and telescope had just crossed the Atlantic, and were soaring 350 miles above the coast of north-western Africa, when astronaut Megan McArthur used a robot arm to release the snares gripping Hubble. Then the shuttle slowly backed away. "Hubble has been released," reported commander Scott Altman. "It's safely back on its journey of exploration as we begin steps to conclude ours. Looking back on this mission, it's been an incredible journey for us as well." Mission Control radioed congratulations: "It's wonderful to see Hubble, the most famous scientific instrument of all time, newly upgraded and ready for action thanks to you." With Hubble flying on its own again, the seven astronauts looked ahead to Friday's planned landing. But first they had to inspect their ship one last time to make sure it had not suffered any serious damage from space junk. The telescope's unusually high orbit had placed the shuttle and its crew at increased risk and, because of the lack of a refuge, prompted Nasa to keep a rescue ship on stand-by until the end of the 11-day flight.
To improve their safety, the astronauts dropped Atlantis into an egg-shaped orbit that is, much of the time, lower than the telescope's junk-ridden orbit. TheTamshee says: Scotty Altman and his fellow astronauts deserve high praise. To risk their lifes on this tricky space mission, to squench the worlds thirst for cosmic pictures, is indeed honourable. "Safe Oot-Safe In"

Discovery "Blast Off"

Discovery took off as the sun was setting, a spectacular sight for a space agency anxious about the prospects of a successful take off after a hydrogen leak prevented the shuttle from lifting off on Wednesday.
Before that, hydrogen valves kept the shuttle grounded for weeks in February. Launch pad repairs took care of the leak, and the astronauts were able to board their spaceship and lift off.
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"Well, you had a little bit of a wait but that will just make the payoff that much sweeter," the launch director Mike Leinbach told the astronauts.
Commander Lee Archambault and his crew, which includes two former schoolteachers, should reach the international space station on Tuesday.
"Thanks for the work Mike, we'll see you in a couple weeks. Take care and let's go ahead and fire up the sound of freedom," Commander Archambault said.
The shuttle is delivering one last set of solar wings for the space station and some critical equipment for a relatively new water-recycling system. TheTamshee says: the oldest Indy Kid loves this kind of stuff - she has already supplied the primary school with a copy of her Redshift Astronomy skills CD, but can't quite comprehend why she is not able to see the Shuttle from her bedroom window with her Eco Science telescope -not quite up to Hubble standards