WEEKLY WHINE

Ringing the bell

The International Space Station's fifth crew is now on board, and the fourth is on its way home. That means it's time to open up the GoobNet Mailbox to see what you had to say about STS-111 on Endeavour this week.

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What happened on STS-111 on Endeavour this week? - Albert Spim, Newport News, VA, USA

Well, first it lifted off. Then it did some orbits. Then it docked with the station. Then it did some stuff. Then it separated.

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Didn't it lift off and dock last week? - Beatrice Dixon, Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia

Shut up.

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Is it true that Franklin Chang-Díaz carried a Costa Rica World Cup shirt into orbit? - Cliff Wanchope, San José, Costa Rica

Yup.

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Is it true that they carried a Houston Rockets shirt into orbit in 1995? - Jan Pavilka, Houston, TX, USA

Yup.

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Which was cooler? - Eddie Findall, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

The Ticos shirt, definitely.

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Aren't you just saying that because you're biased toward soccer? - Jan Pavilka, Houston, TX, USA

Maybe, but you've got to admit the Rockets' logo is kind of ugly.

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Why do these things always get off topic? - Jared Le Saux, Brisbane, Qld, Australia

Sorry, we only want questions about STS-111.

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What does the STS-111 mission patch look like? - Pat Padawanagala, Hat Yai, Thailand

It looks like this.

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What kind of city name is "Hat Yai", anyway? - Tim Barker, Madison, WI, USA

A fun one.

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Didn't Franklin Chang-Díaz make his first spacewalks on this mission? - Alfredo García, Portland, ME, USA

Yup.

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Why? - Billy Madison, Kongsvinger, Norway

Why not?

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Well, that was his seventh space flight. - Eric Estrado, Sucre, Bolivia

Yes, it was.

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Why does the International Space Station need a ship's bell? - Margarite Maranauve, Kourou, French Guiana

Because it's a ship. Duh.

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Does Endeavour have a ship's bell? - João Pinto, Lisbon, Portugal

You'd better ask it.

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What? - Yoko Tsumishi, Shizuoki, Japan

Never mind.

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How did Yuri Onufrienko, Dan Bursch, and Carl Walz like living on the Station? - Paul Mogoto, Fayeteville, NC, USA

They thought it was pretty good.