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: Whether being used to take notes in class or signing a donation check, Retro 51's new Mercury 7 Astronaut pen is the perfect writing instrument to mark the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation's 40th anniversary. Inspired by the silvery spacesuits worn by the organization's founders, the $68 Tornado-model rollerball is limited to 1,958 pieces, each topped with the Foundation's 40 Years logo and shipped in a silver commemorative tube.
: Muhammed Faris was the first cosmonaut from Syria to fly into space. He died on Friday (April 19) at the age of 72. Faris launched aboard Soyuz TM-3 to the Mir space station as part of the Soviet Union's Interkosmos program. During his eight days in space, he observed Syria from orbit and noted the lack of political borders. Faris died in Türkiye where he and his family were living as refugees after fleeing the war in Syria.
: The four-inch, 1.6-pound piece of metal debris that tore through the roof and floors of a Florida home last month was, in fact, from a cargo pallet jettisoned from the International Space Station, NASA confirmed on Monday (April 15). The melted and mangled stanchion had been used to mount batteries after a power upgrade. NASA will use the piece to refine its entry models.
: A new, four-part documentary airing on CNN looks back at the ill-fated last launch of NASA's first winged orbiter. "Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight" features new interviews with the STS-107 astronauts' family members and the engineers who supported the crew from the ground. Co-produced by Mindhouse Productions and BBC, "The Final Flight" concludes on Sunday (Apr 14).
: A new agreement between the United States and Japan will see two JAXA crew members join future Artemis moon landing missions, and one become the first non-American to walk on the lunar surface. In return, JAXA will design and build a pressurized moon rover for use by NASA astronauts. The agreement does not state on what missions the Japanese astronauts will fly, but the rover is expected for Artemis VII.
: The European Space Agency (ESA) has graduated a new astronaut class, now known as the Hoppers. Five Europeans and the first representative of the Australian Space Agency completed basic training and are now eligible for flight assignments to the International Space Station and destinations beyond. Selected in 2022, the Hoppers also debuted their class patch, which depicts the six astronauts bouncing on flag-adorned hopping toys.
: Apple TV+ has renewed the alternate space history drama "For All Mankind" for its fifth season and is launching a new spinoff, "Star City." Creators Ronald D. Moore, Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi are returning to lead both shows, which will continue to explore what might have happened if the Soviet Union landed on the moon first and the space race never ended. Season 5 of "For All Mankind" is expected to pick up back on Mars, while "Star City" will return to 1969 for a second, Soviet-sided look at the "For All Mankind" timeline.
: After touring the world for more than a decade, the only full-scale model of the James Webb Space Telescope has been donated by Northrop Grumman to the Space Foundation. The aluminum and steel model, which weighs 12,000 pounds (5,400 kg), stands over three stories tall and has the same footprint as a tennis court, will be displayed along with a demo unit of one of the Webb's mirrors at the organization's Discovery Center in Colorado.
: Before it was known as "Fly Me to the Moon" and Frank Sinatra's cover became associated with the Apollo program, the 1954 song was originally titled "In Other Words." In a way, that would be appropriate for the upcoming movie "Fly Me to the Moon," which while fictional, pulls from NASA's real-life campaign to market the moon landings. Opening July 12 in theaters, "Fly Me to the Moon" stars Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum.
: Soviet-era cosmonaut Vladimir Aksyonov traded in his refurbished spacecraft for a model "T" in the course of his two-mission career. Aksyonov, who died on Tuesday (April 9) at the age of 89, first lifted off on Soyuz 22, which used the Apollo-Soyuz backup capsule. His second launch was on the first crewed flight of the upgraded Soyuz T. In total, he logged almost 12 days in space while completing 189 orbits around Earth.
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