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A Belgian artist who was credited with sculpting a small metal figurine left on the moon as a tribute to the space explorers who made the ultimate sacrifice died on Saturday (May 3). Paul Van Hoeydonck was 99. In August 1971, Apollo 15 commander David Scott placed the "Fallen Astronaut" statuette and its accompanying memorial plaque near where he had parked the moon rover, where it remains, lying in the lunar regolith.
: Actor John Lithgow gives voice to the modern day Buzz Aldrin in the new dramatic podcast "BUZZ." Debuting on May 6, the iHeartPodcasts and Thoroughbred Studios' audio series tells the dramatized story of the personal challenges that the Apollo 11 astronaut faced both before and after he returned from the moon. The 11-episode podcast also features the voice work of Geoffrey Arend as Aldrin at the time of the mission.
: China launched its 15th human spaceflight Thursday (April 24) and six-and-a-half hours later docked to the Tiangong space station for a six-month stay. Shenzhou 20 commander Chen Dong, together with first-time fliers Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, will conduct more than 60 science investigations, perform spacewalks to install debris shields and run public outreach and educational activities, while keeping Tiangong running.
: Don Pettit marked his 70th birthday by returning home to Earth on Saturday (April 19). Descending from the International Space Station on board Soyuz MS-26, Pettit landed with Aleksey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner after 220 days in orbit. Already NASA's oldest active astronaut when he launched last September, Pettit's birthday "party" brought together Russian recovery teams in Kazakhstan, where it was April 20 (his birthdate).
: Katy Perry, Gayle King and four more women flew into space on Monday (April 14) as Blue Origin's 11th New Shepard crew and first to be all female. The 10-minute sub-orbital mission qualified each woman as an astronaut and the contents of their personal payload packs "space-certified" mementos. So what did each NS-31 crew member pick to fly? A mix of muppets, an Apollo artifact, Bahamian chowder and more.
: Two Texas senators have introduced legislation that would strip the Smithsonian of the retired space shuttle Discovery and send it to Houston for display. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz filed the "Bring the Space Shuttle Home Act" on Thursday (April 10), which calls for NASA to take back the title and move the winged orbiter from the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia to Space Center Houston.
: On Aug. 1, Lego will roll out into stores the Lunar Outpost Moon Rover Space Vehicle, a new toy building set inspired by the real robotic explorers that are enabling humanity's return to the moon. The $99.99 kit uses 1,082 pieces to form a futuristic all-terrain rover with rocker suspension, deployable solar panels and a rotating arm; a smaller mining rover; and Lunar Outpost's MAPP, or Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform, rover.
: The NASA engineer who, with his team, found the "way to make 'this' fit into the hole for 'this,' using nothing but 'that'" during the (real) Apollo 13 mission has died at 95. Ed Smylie was NASA's crew systems division chief when an in-flight explosion resulted in a series of problems, including the need to scrub the air of carbon dioxide aboard the spacecraft. The solution, as is now storied space history, involved a sock, hoses and tape.
: The names of the more than 20,000 people who have worked at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center since 1960 are now listed on the Space Exploration Wall of Honor. Part of the newly-redone Rocket Park at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, the wall stands a testament to its honorees contributions to landing astronauts on the moon, sending space telescopes into orbit and charting a path to launching humans to Mars.
: An 18-karat gold version of the first watch worn on the moon that was presented to the first person to walk on the moon has set a record for the most paid for an astronaut's timepiece. Neil Armstrong's Omega "Tribute to Astronauts" Speedmaster Professional chronograph commanded $2.2 million at RR Auction on Thursday (April 17). The sale now ranks as the third highest for a space-related artifact at a public auction.
: Every scene shot in space for the 1985 IMAX film "The Dream is Alive" was planned in advance and a first take. "There were no reshoots," said Marsha Ivins, who was filmed on the ground for the giant screen movie but did not make it in. All, that is, except one: the two spacewalkers waving through the shuttle's aft flight deck windows was a surprise, said cinematographer James Neihouse at a Smithsonian event for the film's 40th.
: They've circled Earth, set down on planets, moons and comets, and gone on grand tours of the outer reaches of our solar system before going interstellar. Now, Chop Shop wants to pin them down with your help. The design studio is crowdfunding a set of collectible lapel pins celebrating historic robotic spacecraft. The Voyagers, Cassini, Mars Science Laboratories and Sputnik have been picked for pins; a fifth probe will be decided by public votes.
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