July 27, 2020 - Orbital Cola Wars

Orbital Cola Wars The STS-51F mission, which lifted off 35 years ago this week, saw seven astronauts spending eight days on the space shuttle Challenger. The main task was using Spacelab 2, a reusable modular scientific laboratory housed in the shuttle’s cargo bay, to conduct experiments in life sciences and physical sciences, including astronomy. One of the instruments connected to Spacelab 2 was an infrared telescope, seen here, which was used to make observations of 60% of the galactic plane. The crew also tested two competing designs of soda cans (one made by Coke, the other by Pepsi) to address the difficulty of drinking carbonated beverages in zero-gravity. Both designs worked, but the astronauts preferred Tang because it could be served cold, and the soda cans could not be refrigerated.

Image credit: NASA

Weekly Calendar

July 27 - August 2, 2020

Holidays - Sky Events - Space History

Monday 27

First Qtr Moon 8:32 AM ET

Tuesday 28

Delta Aquarid meteor shower

1851: First photo of total solar eclipse
1964: Ranger 7 lunar probe launched
1973: Skylab 3 crew launched on 59-day mission
2017: Soyuz MS-05 launched carrying ISS Expedition 52/53 crew