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My New Favorite Thing: USSR-AIRSPACE.COM

By Jason Torchinsky | Issue #22

Occasionally, I'll get a message like this in my email:

Greetings,

This is a short broadcast message to let you know that:

1. Soyuz TM-28/MIR-26 commander Pilot-Cosmonaut Gennadiy (Gena) Padalka will fly as a commander of ISS-9 expedition soon.

2. I will give to Gena some of my family photos to be flown with him and can ask if a few extra photos from friends can be taken on board his Soyuz TMA-4. If interested, please feel free to contact me.

Best regards,

Alex

What this tells me, in a strangely official-sounding way, is that I'm one email away from having something of mine flown into space. I am privy to this opportunity because I am on the mailing list of Alex Panchenko, Friend to the Cosmonauts.

Alex Panchenko runs the web site Ussr-airspace.com, an incredible resource for the true Russian and Soviet-era space geek. What makes his site so amazing is not just the sheer volume of incredibly rare models and pictures of equipment from the Russian and Soviet space program, but Mr. Panchenko himself, who seems to be on friendly terms with every cosmonaut ever--from the current ISS inhabitant (who sends in photos of himself floating in space and carrying a handwritten hello to Panchenko and his family), to space legends like Alexi Leonov.

It's Alex Panchenko who really makes this my new favorite thing. Who is this guy? How does he know all these cosmonauts? He never worked in the Russian space program as far as I can tell--or at least he said he hadn't when I called and asked him (but he may just have been eager to get me off the phone). He lives just outside Los Angeles, and has a gruff Russian accent that's a lot of fun to imitate as you read his email announcements. He fascinates me. And his site has amazing things for those who can afford them. I can't, but I'm saving up for an original factory display model of a Soyuz-TM and wondering what I have that I can justify shooting into space. --Jason Torchinsky

SMALL objects that look like animals

I was taking apart an old PC when I noticed something peculiar about the power switch I'd just extracted: it looked like an elephant. Not sure if I was just reading too much into things, I took the switch, and without saying anything, placed it in front of my friend Chris.

"What's that?" I asked.

Chris looked at the switch. "An elephant?"

I was thrilled. I tried the same experiment on at least four other people and got the same result. Since then, I've been on the lookout for other random items that look, without modification, like animals. I've found, for example, a laser printer part that looks like a terrier. If anyone out there in StayFreeland has objects that look like animals, please let me know: jason@avacast.com. --Jason Torchinsky

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