extravehicular activity
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The Saddest and Strangest Tales of Animals in Space
From spiders struggling to make webs in orbit to bats clinging to the outside of the Space Shuttle, the history of animals in space is as fascinating as it is weird. Here are some of our favorite stories. On June 11, 1948, a rhesus monkey named Albert I become the first animal to reach space,…
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Astronaut Tool Bag Becomes Unexpected Satellite After ISS Spacewalk Slip-Up
In space, misplacing a bag of tools is hard to recover from. A tiny mishap during a recent spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) has led to a new object in the night sky, with a tool bag now orbiting Earth ahead of the space station, temporarily taunting the astronauts who dropped it. During…
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New Analysis of 1970s Moonquakes Reveals an Unexpected Origin
Sensors placed on the surface of the Moon during the Apollo 17 mission picked up a mysterious tremor, one that regularly occurred as the Sun rose to its peak position over the lunar surface. Unlike regular moonquakes that are triggered by the varying temperatures of the lunar environment, however, this one had a rather peculiar,…
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NASA Suspends ISS Spacewalks Because Its Spacesuits Are Leaking Water
It might be time for NASA to ditch its ageing ISS spacesuits. The space agency announced a pause to all its spacewalks until it has a better handle on a lingering and frightening issue that’s causing water to leak inside of astronauts’ helmets.