ISS

A company called Astrogenetix has started the approval process for putting their salmonella vaccine through the clinical trial wringer. The outfit, based in Austin, Texas developed its vaccine through research carried out on NASA's space shuttle missions.

Scientists have long known that bacteria and viruses grow more rapidly and virulently in space. Astrogenetix took advantage of that fast-growing, super-active state to home in on the salmonella genes responsible for infectiousness, and then removed said genes to create a weak vaccine strain.

The movies make space flight seem easy. A simple flip of the joystick or twist of the knob and any asteroid or space creature is done for. Sadly, the reality of space flight involves the constant monitoring of, and fiddling with, a near-endless set of dials, switches and buttons. In fact, so much of modern space craft are packed with gear and doodads that even astronauts have trouble keeping everything straight.

NASA should extend space station operations beyond the planned 2016 retirement, according to a subcommittee of the presidential panel reviewing the human space program's future. But some members also warned that such a step could delay the return of astronauts to the moon.

This comes shortly after NASA had announced plans to de-orbit the International Space Station in 2016. Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada all support extending the $100-billion collaborative venture beyond 2015.

No longer content with simply having bridges and minor league hockey mascots named after him, Stephen Colbert has taken his quest for domination beyond the stratosphere. The results from NASA’s contest to name Node 3, a new International Space Station module, are in. The write-in winner? “Colbert.”

Hubble fanboys take note: NASA is attempting to fix the inoperable space telescope right now. Cross your fingers, because the 18-year old computer code needs a serious reboot.
About two weeks ago, the Hubble stopped working for the most important and the malfunction has now delayed a space shuttle upgrade mission planned for this month, which would have made the orbiting telescope about 90 times more powerful. The delay is costing NASA $10M per month, presumably because plans for a repair mission are now on hold until early next year.

Bow, nerds, and greet your king. Before this week, Richard Garriott was already geek royalty. The son of an astronaut, Garriott grew up in a NASA village, started writing best-selling videogames in high school, and has voyaged to the bottom of the ocean. Now Garriott has achieved the crown jewel of nerdom: he's in space.

The International Space Station maybe not be international for much longer. According to an NASA email leaked (by an undetermined source) to the Orlando Sentinel, the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2010 will cede de facto control of the ISS to Russia. That control will come just as NASA finishes assembling the ISS in 2011.

Of all of the sophisticated technology powering the International Space Station, nothing brings the frustration of modern living back home to those of us on Earth more than a report of a broken toilet. Only the astronauts can't make an after-work run to the home repair store; they have to devise creative solutions while they wait for Saturday's launch of the space shuttle Discovery to bring them repair parts.

Yes, it ended well, but the rough-and-tumble landing that astronauts experienced recently as a Soyuz capsule on its way back from the International Space Station missed its landing target by 300 miles sure doesn't sound like something you'd want to do twice.