Word: rocketings
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...launch gods cooperate this Saturday, a rocket will blast off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and loft a Soyuz capsule into space. A day or so later, the capsule will rendezvous and dock with the International Space Station (ISS)--thus earning a place in the annals of space history. For aboard that Soyuz craft, along with two Russian cosmonauts, will be a 60-year-old American millionaire named Dennis Tito. Amateurs have flown in space before--including three U.S. congressmen, a Russian politician, a Japanese TV reporter and a Saudi prince--but Tito will be the first paying tourist...
...space-station project too, which gives them the right to select their own crews. Kicking them out of the partnership was unthinkable. Not only do the others need Russia's Soyuz capsules (for emergency escapes) and expertise in long-duration space flight, they also want to keep Russian rocket scientists and engineers gainfully employed so that they aren't tempted to sell their services to rogue states...
...belt. I thought, 'That's odd--I've never seen that before.'" The white haze made the small white hull of the Ehime Maru hard to distinguish. Waddle did not linger, though, since he was eager to impress his guests. He ordered the ship to dive deep and then rocket back up to the surface. In retrospect he concedes he was pushing ahead too quickly. "I didn't give the men the time they needed to do their jobs. I was so confident in my abilities and what I had seen, I was convinced the ship was safe to carry...
...launch of Mr. Tito, all the issues will be resolved." The response - he refused follow-up questions - would seem to indicate that Tito, who reportedly paid $20 million for the trip aboard a Russian Soyuz vehicle, will launch next Saturday and become the first "joy-riding" astronaut to rocket into space...
...scouts are not to be confused with rocket scientists. They make mistakes, but who doesn't? (I fully admit to tuning my TV to an XFL game once.) So scouts are forgiven for what my 20/20 hindsight shows were major lapses in judgment during past drafts...