Well, last week's space theme was exciting for readers and staff alike, not least of all because we had a real actual NASA astronaut baring his soul daily. Here are the highlights:

• 15-year veteran NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao's column about flying in the Space Shuttle and Soyuz, and living on the International Space Station for six months. The little things matter most, and Leroy described the minutiae of zero-g daily life in a way that was both charming and shocking at once. Here are all of his Astroblogger entries.

• In Carmel Hagen's thrilling heist story about a guy and a girl and a locked-up pile of moon rocks, we learned how an intern stole NASA's most treasured possession.

• We had a teaser and then a real honest-to-God taste of spaceman food (without the benefit of floating forks and knives).

• We looked back, on heroes like Yuri Gagarin and Alan Shepard, mistakes like the horrifying Nedelin disaster, and all kinds of memorable phenomena ranging from space chimps to space Lego to Space Camp.

• More importantly, we looked ahead to the next space shuttles, the development of space tourism, the next moon mission and our ultimate destiny as interstellar pioneers.

Where didn't we go? Maybe where no man has gone before—we left that to JJ Abrams and the ghost of Gene Roddenberry. God speed, Giz readers. And stay tuned for the next thrilling theme week. Any guesses? [Get Me Off This Rock]

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