NASA’s Advanced Food Technology Project is responsible for providing space flight crews with a food system that is safe, nutritious, and acceptable to the crew, while balancing appropriate vehicle mass, volume, waste, and food preparation time for exploration missions. For the past 50 years, the methods involved in the preservation process have evolved from pilots eating seed and crackers to allowing for gourmet diets like freeze dried shrimp and meats to be eaten. 10 PICS John Glenn was America's first man to eat anything in the near weightlessness of Earth orbit. Before that, Yuri Gagarin, the first man on space, experimented by eating three 160 g toothpaste-type tubes serving puréed meat and chocolate sauce for lunch. Glen found the task of eating fairly easy, but found the menu to be limited. Many Mercury astronauts had to endure bite-sized cubes, freeze dried powders, and semiliquids stuffed in aluminum tubes. The astronauts found it unappetizing, experienced difficulties in rehydrating the freeze-dried foods, and did not like having to squeeze tubes. Moreover, freeze-dried foods produced crumbs which could foul instruments. 60 PICS Photos of Life at Woodstock Festival 1969 The Woodstock Festival was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969. Bethel, in Sullivan County, is 43 miles (69 km) southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, in adjoining Ulster County. During the sometimes rainy weekend, thirty-two acts performed outdoors in front of 500,000 concert-goers. It is widely regarded as a pivotal moment in popular music history. Rolling Stone listed it as one of the 50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock and Roll. The making of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK 66 PICS Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (also known as The Empire Strikes Back) is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner and written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, with George Lucas writing the film's story and serving as executive producer. Of the six main Star Wars films, it was the second to be released and the fifth in terms of internal chronology. The film is set three years after the original Star Wars. The Galactic Empire, under the leadership of the villainous Darth Vader, is in pursuit of Luke Skywalker and the rest of the Rebel Alliance. While Vader chases a small band of Luke's friends--Han Solo, Princess Leia Organa, and others—across the galaxy, Luke studies the Force under Jedi Master Yoda. But when Vader captures Luke's friends, Luke must decide whether to complete his training and become a full Jedi Knight or to confront Vader and save his comrades. 15 PICS The United States one hundred-dollar bill ($100) is a denomination of United States currency. U.S. statesman, inventor, and diplomat Benjamin Franklin is currently featured on the obverse of the bill. On the reverse of the banknote is an image of Independence Hall. The $100 bill is the largest denomination that has been printed since July 13, 1969, when the denominations of $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 were retired. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing says the average life of a $100 bill in circulation is 90 months (7.5 years) before it is replaced due to wear and tear. The bills are also commonly referred to as "Benjamins", in reference to the use of Benjamin Franklin's portrait on the denomination, or "C-Notes", based on the Roman numeral for 100. The bill is one of two denominations printed today that does not feature a President of the United States; the other is the $10 bill, featuring Alexander Hamilton. The time on the clock of Independence Hall on the reverse, according to the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, shows approximately 4:10. One hundred hundred-dollar bills are delivered by Federal Reserve Banks in mustard-colored straps ($10,000). The Series 2009 $100 bill redesign was unveiled on April 21, 2010, and was to be issued to the public on February 11, 2011, but production was shut down in December 2010 because as many as 30% were unusable due to a manufacturing flaw. A vertical crease in the paper reveals a blank space on the bill when pulled out. In their replacement, and continuing the high demand of this denomination, the Series 2006A was launched retaining the previous design (1996-generation). On April 24, 2013, the Federal Reserve announced the new $100 bill would enter circulation on October 8, 2013 20 PICS Lawrence Harley "Larry" Luckham worked at Bell Labs in the 1960's, "managing a data center and developing an ultra high speed information retrieval system." One day, Larry took his camera to work and photographed his employees, most of whom were women. The programmers -- mostly dudes -- weren't nearly as photogenic (or as "great" as the rest of his staff, notes Larry), but the pictures he ended up with are fascinating, especially if you're interested in early technology, mod fashion, Mad Men, or all of the above. Picture Captions by Lawrence Harley "Larry" Luckham 34 PICS In the early 1900s, Seattle-based photographer Edward S. Curtis embarked on a project of epic scale, to travel the western United States and document the lives of Native Americans still untouched by Western society. Curtis secured funding from J.P. Morgan, and visited more than 80 tribes over the next 20 years, taking more than 40,000 photographs, 10,000 wax cylinder recordings, and huge volumes of notes and sketches. The end result was a 20-volume set of books illustrated with nearly 2,000 photographs, titled "The North American Indian." In the hundred-plus years since the first volume was published, Curtis's depictions have been both praised and criticized. The sheer documentary value of such a huge and thorough project has been celebrated, while critics of the photography have objected to a perpetuation of the myth of the "noble savage" in stage-managed portraits. Step back now, into the early 20th century, and let Edward Curtis show you just a few of the thousands of faces he viewed through his lens. 26 PICS 100 Years Later is the title of an ongoing project by artist Maico Akiba, whereby she meticulously manipulates everyday objects with dirt, moss, rust and other materials making them look aged and from an era long gone. |









