Thanksgiving from space

I bet we all enjoyed thankgiving this week, but did you know that this holiday extends from out of our world?

On thursday, thanksgiving was celebrated at the International Space Station, which last week celebrated its 10 years in orbit. The space crew has celebrated thanksgiving since 2000, but this was the first time the US space shuttle was docked to the station during the holiday.

The astronauts enjoyed their most traditional meal in orbit, with smoked turkey, yams, green beans, cornbread dressing, and even dessert.

It's cool that this holiday is celebrated outside of not only america but also the world. Just think, in the future we may have turkey on the Moon!

The International Space Station turns 10 this week!

Yeah, that's right! On November 20, 2008, the $100 billion dollar International Space Station, ISS, turned 10 years old. It's been 10 years since the first component of the ISS, the Zarya control module, went into space.

Estimates say that the station has circled the earth over 57,000 times and traveled a distance of 2 billion kilometers.

Currently, the ISS is undergoing what could be described as a "makeover." The Space Shuttle Endeavor, which launched last week, is adding another toilet and sleeping quarters.

The most interesting addition to the ISS is the new recycling system, which will recycle the Carbon dioxide and waste water. This has already filtered urine into pure water.

The ultimate goal of the new additions is to increase the number of people living on the station from 3 to 6.

SpaceX Owner, Elon Musk, says private sector will play a big role in Space

About a week after his company made their historic launch, Elon Musk said today that private companies will be a major player in space. The Entrepreneur has invested $100 million and six years into SpaceX and is not a bit worried about the risks. They plan to help NASA deliver cargo to the International Space Station by 2010.

This will be a significant change to how private companies work with NASA. Usually they are under contract to build parts for the space agency, with NASA keeping the hardware at the end.
NASA administrator Michael Griffin is very happy for Musk though, saying that the private sector needs to get involved in space. NASA, however, does not plan to fund SpaceX, since they have to focus on creating their own spacecraft.

No matter the outcome, Elon Musk will join the rank of Richard Branson, owner of the Virgin Galactic space tourist project, and Robert Bigelow, who wants to create a Private space hotel, as pioneering entrepreneurs in space.