A Russian, an American & a Brazilian go to space

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

so today the Russians launched the Soyuz TMA-8 to go chill at the International Space Station out in space. Aboard was a Russian commander with a crew of an American and a Brazilian.
First Brazilian ever in space! 2006 is also the 100th anniverssay of Santos-Dumont's first flight on the 14-bis... said by many to be the first ever flight on a heavier-than-air aircraft.

[CLOCKWORK ORANGE]

I guess it's a great day for Brazilian history and science.

But doesn't the government have more things to worry about? Surely all that money could of gone to something more constructive and beneficial to Brazil in the long-term. But I guess they just want to maintain the status quo :(

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

I doubt the Brazilian government spent much money on this... they have contributed funds to the ISS, but the training of the astronaut was done by NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency, and the launching of the rocket was no doubt funded by the Russian government.

[CLOCKWORK ORANGE]

Yeah your probably right. Anyways I don't want to take anything away from Brazil. Having the first Brazilian in space is definitely a achievement.

[Janus]

The mission has cost Brazil around $10 million dollars.

Full story

Originally posted by BBC News
Lt Col Marcos Pontes has become the first Brazilian to go into space after a successful launch aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket from Baikonur.
He will spend nine days on the International Space Station while a Russian and a US colleague accompanying him will stay for six months.

Col Pontes took with him a Brazilian flag and a football shirt - to help, he said, his team in the World Cup.

His father, 84, was at the launch with other relatives and friends.

They applauded and cheered afterwards, watching video from an onboard camera at the ex-Soviet base Russia leases in Kazakhstan.

"I am very emotional," said his wife Fatima, with tears in her eyes.

"I cannot even explain how I feel right now. I am very, very happy."

The launch was broadcast live on television in Brazil.

Vyacheslav Davidenko, spokesman for Russia's Roskosmos space agency, told AFP news agency that the new astronaut would undoubtedly become a national hero in Brazil.

"Marcos Pontes will allow his country to join the club of space powers," he said.

Space dream

Many Brazilians are hoping the trip will give a crucial morale boost to the country's own space programme, the BBC's Tom Gibb reports from Sao Paulo.


The International Space Station is not due to be completed until 2010

The mission, which is costing Brazil about $10m (£6m), comes less than three years after Brazil's space programme met with disaster when a rocket exploded on the launch pad.

The explosion of the first Brazilian rocket built to take satellites killed 21 people at the site in the north of the country.

However, there has also been some criticism that the cost of putting a man into space could have been used better elsewhere.

Thursday's flight is the fulfilment of a childhood dream for Col Pontes, our correspondent adds.

He has been training since 1998 for such a mission, which was originally to have been on a US space shuttle.

Col Pontes is being accompanied by Pavel Vinogradov of Russia and US astronaut Jeffrey Williams.

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

$10 millions isn't very much anyways... it's a small fraction of what Russia and the US have put into ISS. I'm sure. Of course, it could be used more wisely.

[Janus]

$10 millions isn't very much anyways... it's a small fraction of what Russia and the US have put into ISS.
True, I was just putting the figure out there.


Brazilian pioneer docks in space

Originally posted by BBC News
A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying the first Brazilian into space has docked with the International Space Station two days after lift-off from Baikonur.
Lt Col Marcos Pontes will spend nine days on board, while a Russian and a US colleague accompanying him will stay for six months.

Col Pontes took with him a Brazilian flag and a football shirt - to help his team in the World Cup, he said.

His father, 84, was at the launch with other relatives and friends.

Mission controllers in Korolyov, outside of Moscow, broke into applause when confirmation arrived of the successful docking.

The Soyuz docked with the space station at 0419 GMT on Saturday morning.

Lt Col Pontes and his companions, cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov and astronaut Jeffrey Williams, were due to spend 90 minutes carrying out routine safety inspections before leaving the launch module.

Space dream

Millions in Brazil watched Thursday's launch, with every successful step for the rocket and Lt Col Pontes likely to be warmly received at home.
"I am very emotional," his wife Fatima said after the launch, with tears in her eyes. "I cannot even explain how I feel right now. I am very, very happy."

Many Brazilians are hoping the trip will give a crucial morale boost to the country's own space programme, the BBC's Tom Gibb reports from Sao Paulo.

The mission, which is costing Brazil about $10m (£6m), comes less than three years after Brazil's space programme met with disaster when a rocket exploded on the launch pad.

The explosion of the first Brazilian rocket, built to take satellites into orbit, killed 21 people at the site in the north of the country.

However, there has also been some criticism that the cost of putting a man into space could have been used better elsewhere.

Thursday's flight was the fulfilment of a childhood dream for Col Pontes, our correspondent adds.

He has been training since 1998 for such a mission, which was originally to have been on a US space shuttle.

[1984]

10 Millions IS much... enough to "ressurect" a couple of federal universities left to dust in the central/northern regions of the country!

This whole thing was only but a big joke... the Brazilian space program (for building the space station) didn't receive the investiments required to do its part so, just to send the guy out to space, the government paid the rest of the money the project required AZAP.

The whole thing was much more about promotional image rather than scientific research, really.

<_<

About Dumont, wheter or not the Wright brothers flew before him, the 14-Bis flight was much, much more significant - he flew around the freakin&#39; Eiffel Tower&#33; And it was, of course, a much better documented flight.

:D

But the US, for obvious reasons, try to make the rest of the world ignore the fact.

The truth is, the Spanish folk Diego Marín was the first guy to fly (with a wooden planator, of course, but WTF?) - in the end of the 18th century&#33;&#33;&#33;

:o

[Janus]

Well, they&#39;re back now.


Originally posted by BBC News
Lt Col Marcos Pontes, the first Brazilian to go into space, has returned to Earth after nine days on the International Space Station.
A space capsule carrying Col Pontes, American Bill McArthur and Russian Valery Tokarev landed on the steppes of Kazakhstan early on Sunday.

"Soyuz has made a soft landing," said a mission control official in Moscow.

All three crew were reported well after their three-and-a-half-hour journey back to Earth.

Their capsule touched down at 0347 Moscow time (2347GMT Saturday).

The 43-year-old Brazilian Air Force pilot&#39;s mission, which cost Brazil about &#036;10m (£6m), came less than three years after Brazil&#39;s space programme met with disaster when a rocket exploded on the launch pad.

The explosion of the first Brazilian rocket, built to take satellites into orbit, killed 21 people at the site in the north of the country.

Col Pontes had been training since 1998 for such a mission, which was originally to have been on a US space shuttle.

[Goatse]

Judging by the title I thought this was going to be some joke...