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Space stamps: The Isle of Man has worked with veteran NASA director George Abbey to create a new set of postage stamps marking the 50th anniversary of the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission. The "One Giant Leap, Exploring the Moon and Space" stamps depict photos from the Apollo 13 control room and the four lunar landing missions that came after "NASA's finest hour." The eight stamps also celebrate Skylab, the space shuttle and International Space Station.
District of 'Columbia': Twenty-eight months after it debuted in Houston, the first of its five cities, the "Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission" traveling exhibition has come to its end in Cincinnati. The tour's centerpiece, the historic command module Columbia, and its accompanying artifacts, are to become part of a new permanent exhibition at the National Air and Space Museum. First, the capsule is going on display at the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Center.
Making space: Nicole Stott's second stint as an astronaut will not return to her to orbit, but has an astronomical reach. Talking about her role in Olay's Super Bowl ad (which debuted online on Thursday [Jan 30]), Stott described being impressed by the skin care company's desire to cast a real-life astronaut for its star-studded space mission.
Axiom Segment: NASA has selected Axiom Space of Houston to attach at least one new commercial module, if not a new segment, to the International Space Station. Targeted for launch in 2024, Axiom's facilities will be used to expand commercial activity in low Earth orbit, prior to the Axiom Segment separating to become its own complex.
Space-baked cookies: The first ever food to be baked in space — DoubleTree by Hilton's chocolate chip cookies — are back on Earth and one may be Smithsonian-bound. Baked using Zero G Kitchen's and Nanoracks' Zero G Oven, the cookies took longer and needed more heat but still produced a sweet smell on board the space station.
Astronaut Hall of Fame: The United States Astronaut Hall of Fame will add three record-setting shuttle and space station vets in May. The 2020 class of inductees, Michael Lopez-Alegria, Pamela Melroy and Scott Kelly have 10 missions between them, on which they set duration and spacewalking milestones. With their addition, the Astronaut Hall of Fame's ranks will total more than 100 honorees.
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Cosmonaut crew change: Roscosmos has removed two cosmonauts on the next space station crew after one was reportedly injured. Anatoli Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner will now fly with NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy on board Soyuz MS-16 in April, replacing Andrei Babkin and Nikolai Tikhonov. The mission would have been the first launch for Tikhonov and Babkin after both experienced prior delays.
Chasing Gemini: Space Adventures is now offering the chance for a crew of up to four to see Earth from an orbital height not achieved since NASA's 1966 Gemini 11 mission, while also becoming the first private passengers to fly on SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft. Targeted for late-2021 to mid-2022, the free-flying mission will circle Earth at an altitude two to three times higher than the space station.
Home from space: Christina Koch started to "draw back her footprint" on the International Space Station about a month before she left for Earth on Feb. 6. After spending a record-setting 328 days in orbit, she had squirreled away some favorite food items and friends' keepsakes, the latter she packed to bring home. On Wednesday (Feb. 12), Koch spoke to the press about moving from space to Earth.
Astronauts wanted: NASA will again accept applications for its astronaut corps beginning on March 2. The new recruits, who now must have a master's degree and complete a two-hour online assessment, in addition to earlier requirements, will be considered for NASA's 23rd astronaut candidate class to be selected in mid-2021. The new group will train for flights to the space station and the moon.
LEGO ISS patch promo: LEGO released its new International Space Station on Saturday (Feb. 1) and with it offered a matching space patch. The ISS emblem is available to LEGO VIP members for free with their purchase of the $70 space station set. The patch includes NASA's "ISS 20" logo, celebrating 20 years of station crew expeditions.
Spitzer shuttered: NASA on Thursday (Jan. 30) shut off the Spitzer Space Telescope, 16 years after its launch. One of the four Great Observatories, the Spitzer's infrared view led to insights and discoveries about exoplanets, interstellar dust and distant galaxies. Its mission complete, the dormant Spitzer will continue in its Earth-trailing orbit.
Space Mirror memorial: For the first time, a commercial spacecraft pilot has been added to the U.S. memorial for fallen astronauts. At a ceremony held Saturday (Jan. 25), Michael T. Alsbury's name was unveiled on the black granite face of the Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Alsbury died in 2014 in the crash of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane.
S.S. Robert H. Lawrence: The next Cygnus spacecraft to launch to the space station has been named for the first African American to be chosen as an astronaut. The S.S. Robert H. Lawrence was christened for the Manned Orbiting Lab (MOL) aerospace research pilot who died in a jet crash in 1967. Northrop Grumman said that it was proud to honor Lawrence's prominent place in space history.
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