An organization hopes to connect students with space walkers; China scores another space success; and a space tourist wants another go aboard a Russian Soyuz
The Space Frontier Foundation hopes to select two instructors, called Pathfinders, who will be able to travel into space, then return back to Earth to share their experiences with students. The foundation is working alongside the United States Rocket Academy and is based on an idea that was first presented in the 1980s by Ronald Reagan.
Rather than try to transition teachers away from school and into space, the SFF hopes to put astronaut teachers into the classroom. The aim of the program is to give students first-hand account of space life, along with showing students that "anything is possible" with some effort and dedication.
A historic 68-hour space voyage aboard a Shenzhou VII space capsule marked a major breakthrough for the growing Chinese space agency, President Hu Jintao said, after the taikonauts returned back to Earth safely. Millions of interested Chinese viewers tuned in to watch the space walk on national TV, when fellow taikonauts watched Zhai Zhigang complete a spacewalk and wave a Chinese flag in space.
The astronauts are now in a two-week quarantine to let their immune systems adjust back to viruses and other bugs that may leave them vulnerable.
China is now the third nation, behind the United States and Russia, to conduct a spacewalk. The country has ambitions to visit the moon by 2020, while U.S. and Russian space officials admit China could be the first nation to get back to the moon.
Microsoft millionaire Charles Simonyi has purchased a second trip to the International Space Station (ISS), and will launch next spring. Simonyi will again pay upwards of $30 million to become the first space tourist to launch into orbit twice.
Last year, Simonyi paid $20 million to fly aboard a Russian Soyuz space capsule to the ISS for a 13-day mission that required six months of preparation. During his last trip to space, he answered questions, participated in a study, and collected samples of microbes -- he expects to stay busy during his trip to the ISS in the spring.
For September's space updates go here [1] [2] [3] [4] [5].
"There is a single light of science, and to brighten it anywhere is to brighten it everywhere." -- Isaac Asimov
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