Sunday May 27, 2012

Spaced out

Picture of the Day ( 18 )

Spaced out

Japanese astronauts Naoko Yamazaki, upside down, and Soichi Noguchi pose inside the Kibo module aboard the International Space Station in this handout photo from NASA.

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18 Comments

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  • 0

    some14some

    Space Circus, no audience !

  • 0

    Noripinhead

    She's wearing a specially design sweater. Made by a Japanese designer so that she can look good in space. No joke. This was reported on the "wide shows" this morning.

  • 0

    bamboohat

    Why are they holding hands like that? Are they a couple or something?

  • 0

    Noripinhead

    Yeah, kind of reminds me of the last scene of "Moonraker".

  • 0

    imarkon

    Such a cute pic !

  • 0

    Mikanojo

    I believe that Yamazaki~san is married to Taichi Yamazaki and they have a daughter. It is mai guess that since they are in freefall inside the station, that Noguchi-san is only holding her hand so that she does not float out of the picture ^_^ Her sweater IS nice.. The International space station really should seriously consider doing advertising and endorsements for products in space.. there is money in advertising and it could be used to fund the station and more research. In fact many products could be used in commercials and actually be considered research - how does one stay fashionable and yet maintain modesty in zero-G?

  • 0

    Mikanojo

    Speaking of fashion.. this is a blurry picture, but did anyone notice the black velcro straps on Noguchi~san's pants? They seem fashionable and functional, allowing him to attach things 2 his legs maybe? Yamazaki~san has her notepad strapped to her leg with a blue band that matches her sweater ^_^

  • 0

    desmosedici

    And, she is wearing special socks that won't smell! Nippon no gijutsu they said on tv and added, with that sense of modesty I somehow mistakenly attributed to the people of these lands (before I came here of course), Japan contributed over 50% of the know-how that went into this space station. Somehow such claims, whether fact or not, always makes me cringe.

  • 0

    Proffesor

    I am sure Yamazaki's husband back on earth should be thinking like..What?...those hands

  • 0

    Mark_McCracken

    What's with the kanji on the right side of the picture? I'm assuming they show orientation of the craft relative to the Earth. But I don't recall seeing similar classification on NASA shots.

  • 0

    Sarge

    This International Space Station in 2010 is such a far cry from the space station envisioned in 2001: A Space Odyssey...

  • 0

    USNinJapan2

    Mikanojo

    Yamazaki~san has her notepad strapped to her leg with a blue band that matches her sweater ^_^

    What you're refering to is what we pilots call a 'kneeboard'. It's basically a small clipboard that you strap to your thigh. You can clip and secure charts, notes, checklists, writing utensils, etc. to the kneeboard so that your hands are free but these items are readily available when you need them.

  • 0

    Bholder

    in outer space there is no such thing as upside down because there can be no parameters deciding what's "up" or "down". arbitrary comment...

  • 0

    Fadamor

    This International Space Station in 2010 is such a far cry from the space station envisioned in 2001: A Space Odyssey...

    Sarge, it's the difference between reality and fantasy.

  • 0

    Sarge

    Fadamor - Yeah, but in 1968 so many of us thought that by 2001 a huge revolving space station like that, complete with IBM computers, could indeed be constructed... ahhh...

  • 0

    Proffesor

    Sarge, are you talking about IBM type writers or what? I think we have gone far beyond than what I envisioned. I remember way back in the days, that is in the seventies, watching a TV series entitled "Space 1999" and I was like what?... that is a mad man's dream and it ain't gonna happen soon. but I just proved myself wrong.....LOL

  • 0

    Mikanojo

    @USNinJapan2 the kneeboard seems like a very good idea but i confess the part that i found more fascinating was that she had color-coordinated the strap for it with her sweater! i did look for kneeboards online after i read your note and i found them.. they do seem very cool!

  • 0

    Mikanojo

    To those people talking about 2001: a Space Odyssey, i will say this: I did watch that movie once and i am proud to say that I almost stayed awake the entire time. i woke up during the intermission because of the loud music and was awake for the famous scene where HAL is singing the daisy song. it seems to me that real space travel is not as boring as that movie was - not as many apes beating each other up with bones and not as many homicidal computers either. I hope that the space station becomes a permanent thing; not like the old stations that all fell down. I hope that it becomes the 1st stop on flights to the Moon for tourists someday? Maybe someday the station will be big enough to have a MOS burger or an IHOP?

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