ISS | Futurismic

Stephen Colbert’s DNA to back up the human race

Tom James @ 10-09-2008

Um. I can’t really add much to the title, churnalism be damned, this is good stuff:

Comedy Central announced Monday that the host of The Colbert Report will have his DNA digitized and sent to the International Space Station (ISS). According to the Associated Press, Stephen Colbert’s gene package will be carried there by famed video game designer Richard Garriott, who will travel to the station in October.

All in all, a great day for humanity. Also I wonder what a gene package looks like?

[story via KurzweilAI][image from Joe Madon flickr]

Jules Verne - the first cargo ship in space

Tomas Martin @ 06-03-2008

This Saturday marks the launch of the biggest vessel in European space history - the Automated Transport Vehicle (ATV), Jules Verne. Named for the classic SF writer, the 21-ton spacecraft is the first unmanned ship launched by Europe to transport goods through space. Russia has some unmanned vehicles, the Progress spaceships. The US Space Shuttle and Russian Soyuz craft also visit the International Space Station but Jules Verne is the first new type of craft in 9 years.

“The ATV, as a logistics vehicle, carries almost three times the hardware, fuel, water and oxygen that a Russian Progress carries,” said NASA’s ISS program manager Mike Suffredini. “It is a major contribution to the program.”

The Jules Verne will travel for a week catching up with the International Space Station before docking. The astronauts will remove the fuel and equipment within and send the ATv back to Earth in six months time, filled with waste material. Jules Verne will burn up in the atmosphere although in the future reentry-proof canisters may be included.

[story and image via Space.com]