Gearfuse

In a move that should come as no surprise, NASA has completed its installation of a urine-to-water recycling system aboard the International Space Station. To celebrate, the crew of the ISS stuck some straws in funky-looking bags of the liquid and drank up. Some claim that the recycled piss is actually cleaner than most tap water on Earth, but I beg to differ. After all, it’s not just human whiz: there’s also animal waste going into the filtration system as well. Gross? Sure, but it’s all in the day of an astronaut.

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The Japanese are at it again. This time around, the country that brought us underground bike storage will be going to outer space for some wacky feats. Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata is set to perform 16 different zero-gravity tasks that were chosen by the people of Japan aboard the International Space Station’s Kibo module later this month. Koichi will attempt to ride a carpet in zero-gravity, giving a new meaning to the term “Magic Carpet Ride.”

Among other things, he’ll also try putting in eyedrops in zero-G. I don’t see how that’s going to work out but hey, more power to you if you can do it. I can’t wait to see the video.

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It’s no Starship Enterprise souvenir, but the ISS Soyuz Laptop Bag is a pretty decent alternative. The bag is constructed with pieces of the landing parachute from the 2004 Soyuz TMA-3 mission to the International Space Station, meaning this is the Real McCoy. The hot shit. A bag your fancy portable computer can fit in.

There’s also a small case for your iPod-sized device for a significantly cheaper price, though it’s certainly lacking in the frills department. Lucky for you, the bag comes with a Certificate of Authenticity, meaning your credibility won’t be shot for spending $175 on a space-themed laptop bag.

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