Tag Archives: Space flight

Well Traveled LEGO’s

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LEGO Figures Flying On NASA Jupiter Probe

by Robert Z. Pearlman, collectSPACE.com Editor
Date: 04 August 2011 Time: 04:26 PM ET
LEGO Figurines to Fly on Juno Spacecraft
Three LEGO figurines representing the Roman god Jupiter (right), his wife Juno (middle) and Galileo Galilei (left) as shown here will fly to Jupiter on NASA’s Juno spacecraft.
CREDIT: NASA/LEGO/The specially-constructed LEGO Minifigures are of the Roman god Jupiter, his wife Juno, and “father of science” Galileo Galilei. The LEGO crew’s mission is part of the Bricks in Space project, the joint outreach and educational program developed as part of the collaboration between NASA and the LEGO Group to inspire children to explore science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

“NASA has a long-standing partnership with the LEGO company,” Scott Bolton, principal investigator for the Juno mission and space science and engineering director at the Southwestern Research Institute in San Antonio, said in a press conference on Wednesday (Aug. 3). “Any of you that have children know that LEGOs are very popular with kids, as well as really helps teach them about building and engineering.”

to read more, go to:    http://www.space.com/12546-lego-figures-jupiter-juno-spacecraft.html

Red Wine in Space

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Astronauts May Benefit from Red Wine in Orbit

by Clara Moskowitz, LiveScience Senior Writer
Date: 15 July 2011 Time: 04:21 PM ET
Red wine
A chemical in red wine could prove beneficial in fighting the health effects of weightlessness.
CREDIT: Dreamstime

While the astronauts on NASA’s final shuttle mission right now don’t have a sip of alcohol around, new research suggests it actually might be good for their health.

The study found that red wine could help prevent the ill effects of prolonged weightlessness on the human body.

An ingredient in red wine, called resveratrol, has shown promise protecting against the bone density loss and insulin resistance that can be side effects of flying in space, researchers said. The finding is based on a study of rats held upside down by their hind limbs and tails to simulate weightlessness. The rats fed resveratrol did not develop the adverse symptoms of the other group.

to read more, go to:    http://www.livescience.com/15072-red-wine-space-alcohol-astronaut-health.html