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Lucky Thirteen On the ISS
Hugh Pickens writes "Things may get a little tight in space as seven shuttle astronauts blast off from Florida on June 13 to join up with six colleagues already on the International Space Station bringing the ISS contingent to thirteen, the largest number of individuals on the platform ever at one time. The 13 space-farers represent seven from the US, two each from Russia and Canada, and one each from Europe and Japan. '"I don't know what it's going to be like," says Endeavour commander Mark Polansky, a veteran of two prior spaceflights. "We know it's going to be challenging with 13 people aboard."' During five spacewalks, an external platform will be added to the lab which will enable those experiments to be performed that require materials to be exposed to the harsh environment of space and astronauts also have to fit equipment to the exterior of the platform such as batteries and a spare space-to-ground antenna."
I though 13 was an unlucky number. Didn't Apollo 13 end in a bad way?
The ending was okay. The middle bit was a bit stressful.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
Shit! You're right! As a matter of fact, the sum of the letters in the names of the three Shuttles still operational is 26 which is 2 times 13. If you take that two and multiply it by the difference in the number of letters between the Endeavour (9) and the number of people who will be on the ISS now (13) you get 8 which is the number of letters in the name 'Columbia'. We're all doomed.
Need Another Seven Astronauts!
And by the way, Europe is not a country.
I quite like being labelled a 'European'. It makes me feel like we're united.
Lucky 13 using IIS
No problem, the old greybeard in charge of the project just needs to supply one fine burglar, and the mission is a guaranteed success. At least financially. A few brave dwarves may die in the process, but it's a small price to pay for scientific progress.
Sure hope the rest rooms hold up...