Instead, as seen in this condensed video, they wrap up the last of the EVAs for mission STS-128 (completed Saturday). Total EVA time was an impressive 7 hours, 1 minute.

Early in the video, that first helmet cam glimpse of Earth, so many, many miles below, is completely and utterly breathtaking. Trivia: They were passing over South America at the time. [YouTube via Tom's Astronomy Blog]

Way up. The answer? They were all the direct result of NASA products and research initially conducted for space travel.

The drill, for instance, was created in 1971, when NASA tapped Black & Decker to build a cordless, battery-power tool for lunar voyages and space walks. The smoker detector, on the other hand, was installed on Skylab in the 1970s to warn astronauts of mission- and life-ending fire. Finally, the LZR, long an antagonist to anyone racing against Michael Phelps in an Olympic pool, was created using materials developed by NASA to fight chafing on space walks and certain high g-force situations.

Radar magazine has a cool list of eleven more where that came from, including braces, swipe cards and even a rose-scented perfume. When you wear underwear in space for a month straight, things get stinky. [Radar via Neatorama]

Worse still, it may be clogged, although not with the kind of stuff you'd think. Nay, no plunger will help in this case, as the clog is chemical in nature, and may have seeped into the figurative space station woodwork.

Unfortunately, mission control and the astronauts have few leads into why the multi-million dollar Russian-built space john crapped the bed for a second time in the past two years. Previously, the toilet was so crippled by whatever it was the astronauts were eating up there that the fix required an emergency replacement pump delivery from space shuttle Discovery.

For now, the 13 crew members on board have to split their number one's and two's between the remaining ISS toilet and one aboard the shuttle. If another toilet fails, the crew can fall back on Apollo-era waste collection bag, which is nice because we're currently celebrating that mission's 40th anniversary. [BBC]

It's an amazing work, penned by the pioneer's of America's space program—Wernher von Braun, Willy Ley, Heinz Haber and even a few Americans who didn't come from Germany after the war, such as Joseph Kaplan and Fred Whipple, with detailed illustrations by Chesley Bonestell and Rolf Klep.

It was my dad's book as a kid, fueling his imagination, and it was mine when I was a wide-eyed innocent pre-Space Camp astronaut wannabe. It was wonderful, but never close to correct. I think they even assert that we'd use hypergolic fuels, and we all know where that will get you. Science guys, have a look at some of that stuff in the gallery—I am certain you'll have a good belly laugh. Too bad the thing's out of print, but Amazon does list vintage copies, so get one if you can. [Amazon - Thanks Dad, for sending it!]

It will probably not end well for the social media savvy Stephen Colbert, whose dedicated fan base was able to trounce the four "official" names that NASA provided. NASA has all but confirmed that the node will be named Serenity, which was the top vote getter amongst the NASA-sanction entries.

However, rumor is Colbert might still get his wish, sort of, as Comedy Central is pimping the Colbert Report NASA appearance as evidence of the fact that the stuffy government space agency is going to bestow a named toilet on cable's most outspoken fake news commentator. [io9]

First, a primer. Fire in microgravity isn't the flickering kind that happened when you set the house ablaze with your chemistry set as a kid. It's actually spherical (see image), and spreads around space stations, space shuttles or special projects like Orion faster than you can say "Hey, I didn't know NASA let us smoke on the space shuttle?"

NASA astronaut Jerry Linenger got to experience space fire first hand in 1997, when an oxygen candle aboard Mir caught fire and filled the space station with smoke. "I did not expect smoke to spread so quickly," Linenger said in an interview with Discovery. "(It) was about 10 times faster than I would expect a fire to spread on a space station."

So NASA, not wanting to roast its astronauts alive, has continued to research and fine tune a variety of next generation space fire-fighting systems. A few prototypes work well, but they're messy, coating the fire spheres and pretty much everything else in the vicinity with a fine mist, fog or "water foam" made up of a non-toxic oxygen-nitrogen mix.

The special extinguishers have actually been around for about a decade, but only recently has NASA noticed them, funded them, and started testing in microgravity experiments. Previously, NASA's main advice for astronauts in a dangerous fire-related situation was "abandon ship" (seriously)— an option which would be, obviously unavailable to an Orion crew on a Mars or Moon mission.

I say bring on the mess so long as the "Go Directly to Earth" autopilot button stays dry. If I were in a tin can millions of miles from home, I'd take soggy, foamy clothes over the other option any day of the week. Better messy than dead, says I. [MSNBC]

NASA, which "as a matter of course, [does not] throw things overboard haphazardly", threw this tank overboard haphazardly when it was deemed too volatile to carry back on one of the agency's infrequent shuttle missions. No pieces larger that 15lbs are believed to have made it to the surface, but even assuming that half of the craft was vaporized upon reentry, that makes for an awful lot of smelly chunks of metal. Paul Hogan seems to have escaped injury, but alas, Steve Irwin is still dead. And so continues life in Oz. [Daily Mail]

Known as the Early Ammonia Servicer, or EAS, the tank was tossed overboard more than a year ago by NASA astronaut Clayton Anderson, during a July 2007 spacewalk. It is the largest piece of junk ever tossed overboard from the ISS, and yes, you read that right. An astronaut threw a 1,400-pound tank of toxic ammonia coolant into the void, on purpose—but it's not as crazy as it sounds (we think). The tank was made obsolete by recent ISS repairs, and the ammonia-filled vessel was deemed to dangerous for a shuttle ride home. Tossing was the only option.

"As a matter of course, we don't throw things overboard haphazardly," said Mike Suffredini, NASA's space station program. "We have a policy that has certain criteria we have to meet before you can throw something overboard."

Still, if you find a glowing chunk of space waste in your backyard this evening, please call local authorities. People outside the U.S. are encouraged to call the U.S. Department of State via diplomatic channels. And don't touch anything!

Bonus: You can track the space junk at Reentry News. [MSNBC via Slasdot]