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Space Shuttle Endeavour's On-Board Souvenir Stash

Posted by michael on from the got-junk dept.

Robert Pearlman writes: "Seven astronauts, four payloads, and over 11,000 souvenirs are on their way to the International Space Station, among them a U.S. flag recovered from the World Trade Center, a cylinder record which belonged to inventor Thomas Edison, and golf course markers from Scotland and Ireland. Read the entire manifest here."

1 of 39 comments (clear)

  1. Isn't this a little expensive? by Gord.ca · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Last I heard, sending stuff into space costs thousands per kilogram. A few 4"x6" flags aren't going to make a big difference; a few thousand will. I couldn't find a total weight of all this junk on the linked site, but I'd think it'd be a few kilos at least.

    Why is cash-strapped NASA doing this? Just for the fun of it? Or are the $thousands insignificant in its $billions budget? Or are they getting extra $ from elsewhere?

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