>>dirty, stinky undies ---- EEEEEEEUUUUUUUWWWWWWW
>>If this wasn't a deep and dark month in the annals of space exploration, I don't know what was...
Astronaut bringing test undies back to Earth
Wakata kept underwear on for 1 month;
shuttle aims for Friday touchdown
By Marcia Dunn
The Associated Press
updated 3:17 p.m. ET July 30, 2009
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - In what might embarrass less adventurous souls, astronaut Koichi Wakata is returning to Earth with the underwear he kept on for a solid month during his space station stay and scientists will check them out.
Theyre experimental high-tech undies, designed in Japan to be odor free.
The Japanese spaceman described his underwear test Thursday as shuttle Endeavour and its crew aimed for a touchdown the next morning. The astronauts released some mini satellites, their final job before Fridays re-entry, and said it was time to come home after more than two weeks aloft.
Wakata has been off the planet for 4 1/2 months.
I havent talked about this underwear to my crew members, Wakata said in an interview with The Associated Press, drawing a big laugh from his six shuttle colleagues. But I wore them for about a month, and my station crew members never complained for about a month, so I think the experiment went fine.
The underwear, called J-Wear, is a new type of anti-bacterial, water-absorbent, odor-eliminating clothing designed for space missions. The line includes shirts, pants and socks as well. Wakata tested all of them during his mission; he had four pairs of the silver-coated underwear, a cross between briefs and boxers.
Well see the results after landing, Wakata said.
J-Wear is billed as being antistatic and flame retardant, which is especially important for spaceship wear. The cotton and polyester clothes are also seamless, making them lighter and more comfortable, according to the Japanese Space Agency. The goal is comfortable everyday clothes for life in a spaceship.
Another Japanese astronaut wore some J-Wear items during a shuttle flight last year, but had only 16 days in orbit to try them out.
Good weather was forecast for Fridays late morning landing attempt, with the rain expected to hold off until afternoon at NASAs spaceport.
On Thursday afternoon, NASA cleared Endeavour to come home, after analyzing wing and nose images beamed down by the crew Wednesday in one final sweep for micrometeorite damage.
Im ready to get back ... I think I have a landing in me, so dont want to get anybody on the ground worried about that, commander Mark Polansky told the AP.
In one of NASAs longer shuttle flights, Polansky and his crew put a new addition onto the international space station a porch for Japans massive $1 billion lab and freshened up the place with batteries, experiments and spare parts. They rocketed into space July 15.
Thursday marked Day 15 in space for Polansky and all but one of his crew. For Wakata, Thursday marked Day 137. He flew to the space station back in March, becoming the first person from Japan to live at the orbiting outpost.
Wakata said hes longing for sushi.
Thats the first thing that Id like to have and also a hot spring in Japan sometime in the near future, Wakata told the AP.
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URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32221382/ns ... nce-space/
