News in Brief: Rice professor set to blast off to space
Mechanical Engineering Professor Mike Massimino is preparing to fly out of this world. He will be launching into space for the second time on May 12 aboard the space shuttle Atlantis. While in space, Massimino will make repairs to the Hubble Space Telescope. Massimino was too busy preparing for the launch to speak with The Rice Thresher, but he is conveying his experiences via his Twitter account at www.twitter. com/Astro_Mike.
According to Twitter, "Astro Mike" is spending his final days on Earth practicing simulations of the mission, takeoffs and landings in the space shuttle.
On April 10, Massimino wrote he was "[t]raining on how to replace the communications box that sends the cool pictures from the Hubble space telescope to Earth."
- Jocelyn Wright
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