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: Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois on Thursday (July 10) called into question a plan to move space shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian in Virginia to Space Center Houston in Texas. Calling the political effort "a heist," Durbin asked his fellow members of the Senate appropriations committee to think "long and hard" about his concerns, including what it will truly cost and the legality of taking Discovery from the National Air and Space Museum.
: Manly Bands, which designs wedding rings in men's sizes and styles tailored to men's interests, has three new rings inspired by NASA. The collection includes "The Lunar" themed to the moon, "The Aerospace" capturing the glint from the solar arrays on satellites and "The Cosmos" engraved with the "worm" logotype for all to see. The titanium, black zirconium and inlaid golf leaf NASA-branded bands list for $700 to $800.
: Russia's 92nd Progress cargo ship to support the International Space Station lifted off Thursday (July 3) with nods to the upcoming 50th anniversary of the first joint space mission between Russia and the United States. Medallions commemorating the half-century milestone were packed on board Progress MS-31 and a 50 years logo was added to the side of its Soyuz 2.1a booster. The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project spanned July 15 - 24, 1975.
: Robert "Hoot" Gibson is selling 100 pages from various checklists that he used on his first of five space shuttle missions in 1984. The STS-41B artifacts are offered with signed copies of his kids' book, "First Flight," and include a donation to Taking Up Space, a non-profit offering science and space education for Native American girls. Originally, Gibson (and the other astronauts of his time) were not intended to own their flown checklists.
: More than 40 years ago, Poland, Hungary and India sent their first countrymen into space as part of the former Soviet Union's Interkosmos program. Now, all three nations have sent citizens into orbit again, this time together on a commercial mission to the International Space Station. Led by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, the Axiom Space Ax-4 crew is Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, Tibor Kapu and Shubhanshu Shukla.
: After six weeks of renovations, the Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum reopened the Sands Space History Center. A ribbon cutting on Tuesday (June 17) welcomed the public back to the center. Although most of the exhibitions are from before the closure, a new display focuses on the 75th anniversary of the first launch from Florida in July 1950. The Sands Space History Center is free to enter and open six days per week.
: The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex has redesigned and reopened an observation tower to provide a closer look at rockets launches, as well as some unexpected up-close encounters with Apollo artifacts. The Gantry at LC-39 has been added back to the visitor complex's bus tour, giving the public a chance to find historic hardware doubling as seats, reshaped into a sculpture and even firing as part of a simulated engine test.
: The first 1,000 fans on Saturday (July 5) to attend the baseball game between the Akron RubberDucks and Erie SeaWolves will receive a bobblehead in the likeness of Akron-born NASA astronaut Judy Resnik. The giveaway celebrates the bicentennial of the Ohio city. In 1984, Resnik became the second U.S. and first Jewish woman to enter space, two years before she and her crewmates died aboard space shuttle Challenger.
: It may not sound like it when reading it, but the "One Big Beautiful Bill" now directs NASA to remove space shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian and transfer it to Space Center Houston. The language in the bill, which never mentions the orbiter, Texas or either museum, is purposely vague to avoid Senate reconciliation restrictions. Update: Passed by Congress, the President signed the bill into law on July 4.
: First there was "Endeavour." Next came, "Resilience," "Endurance" and "Freedom." And now there is "Grace." Ax-4 commander Peggy Whitson revealed the name of SpaceX's fifth and last Dragon crew capsule to be built as she and her crewmates entered orbit aboard the new spacecraft. Whitson said that "Grace" as a name reflected the "elegance of spaceflight" and is the "act of good work for the benefit of every human everywhere."
: In a movie where one of the main characters is a green and purple fireproof slug-like alien, it might be surprising to see a picture-perfect rendering of a NASA spacecraft. That is the case though, in "Elio," the new Disney-Pixar film out in theaters now. Serving both as a plot device and a metaphor for the titular boy's search, the inclusion of (spoiler!) the Voyager probe is one way that Elio's extraterrestrial adventure is based in real spaceflight.
: Nate D. Sanders Auctions in Los Angeles has opened bidding on the Sally Ride Estate Collection, the first public offering of items once belonging to the first American woman in space. The more than 50 lots include artifacts and related memorabilia spanning Ride's career with NASA, including her two space shuttle flights. Among the highlights are flight suits, NASA letters and two diaries she kept during her second space mission.
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