As the United States pulls out of any near earth space operations NASA is looking to the Russians to provide the needed space shuttling work between earth and the space station using unmanned cargo ships.

So needless to there was more than enough worry to go around when the first of the Russian ships, called Progress, crashed while on its first resupply mission to the ISS. In the investigation that has followed the Russian investigatory commission has found that the reason for the crash had nothing to do with the design of the rockets used.

Whew.

Well sort of.

It turns out the crash was a result of a manufacturing flaw, which while not as much a problem as a design flaw would have been the fact that it was a manufacturing flaw is as worrisome because it points to problems with the quality control around the Russian space program. A program that is currently our only way to ferry astronauts back and forth to the space station as well as making sure they are properly supplied.

The Russians’ troubleshooting comes at a critically important time for NASA, as members of Congress and the White House are in a dispute over the scale of financing for the private spaceship ventures that are intended to replace the shuttle. Underscoring the risks of private space designs, a test craft of Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon, also crashed Aug. 24.

It was unclear how long the Russians might require to carry out the new controls, like videotaping assembly workers. The statement said officials would draft a timeline for launchings, including manned missions. The Russians had said they would launch two Soyuz boosters carrying unmanned spacecraft — a cluster of satellites and a cargo ship — before sending up a crew including American astronauts.

via New York Times

To top all this off, if the Russians cannot have a safe Soyuz ready for launch by November the space station may have to be left without a crew for an indeterminable period of time.

That Russian Soyuz crash – it was because of a manufacturing flaw. Ouch. is a post from: The Inquisitr

As with all tradition there is a lot of history behind them, some of which are pretty common knowledge and others that have been forgotten over time. These historical facts aren’t always boring either. In fact most of them can be downright strange and in some cases outright bizarre.

Our big November turkey day holiday is no different so I thought it would be fun to share some of the more interesting facts about Thanksgiving.

It all started from the same person who gave us “Mary had a little lamb” – Thanksgiving hasn’t always been a national holiday but in fact only came into being in 1863 due to the campaign started by a magazine editor named Sarah Josepha Hale. Her other claim to fame was the nursery rhyme we all curse our kids with as they are growing up.

The entire population of Singapore – According to the National Turkey Foundation in 2007 Americans ate over 690 million pounds of turkey. Which makes it equal to the population of Singapore

And Columbus named the turkey that because he thought it was a peacock – Not always good with directions Columbus thought that when he discovered America he thought he was in India. As a result when he saw the turkey he named it “tuka” which is the Indian word for peacock.

Food is a drug – As stressful as Thanksgiving can be we are actually helped out by the food we eat to make that stress melt away. Stuffing is rich in vitamin B1, nuts have lots of magnesium, and the turkey contains tryptophan. Mix altogether and can say you have a real happy meal.

It’s party time – the original Thanksgiving dinner’s that saw the pilgrims and Wampanoag tribesmen getting down was typically three-days of dancing, singing and with a few games thrown in for good measure.

The birth of TV dinners – we can thank the presence of TV dinners on Thanksgiving. Back in 1953 when the first TV dinners were made it was because Swanson needed to do something with the 260 tons of frozen turkeys they had left over after Thanksgiving.

Houston, I think we need some turkey – The first meal on the moon was a foil packed roast turkey dinner along with all the trimmings.

That is one big bird – the largest turkey ever served up for a Thanksgiving dinner was one recorded to weigh in at  86 pounds.

Some things you may not have known about Thanksgiving is a post from: The Inquisitr

Kansas City woman Carolyn Ragan sadly discovered she had a tumor, not great news for anyone, but what happened next is quite unique.

Ragan isn’t exactly anything we’d call small: her 5 foot stature is complimented with 275 pounds around her waist, and that means that even the most modern tech may not cater for her.

Regan claims she was told by her local hospital to go the zoo to have a MRI because a regular MRI machine could not hold her weight. According to FoxNews: “he suggested the Kansas City Zoo,” Ragan said. “I thought, I know I’m big, but I’m not as big as an elephant. And my husband got mad.”

According to experts, her problem was two fold: she was too heavy for the table, and too wide to fit through the slot.

275 Pound Woman Told To Use Zoo MRI is a post from: The Inquisitr

A couple in Holland Township, New Jersey are upset over the refusal of the local ShopRite to
personalize a cake with the name of their son.

Heath and Deborah Campbell protested the decision, saying that “ShopRite can’t even make a cake for a 3-year-old. That’s sad.”

Nothing unremarkable so far, but here’s where it gets interesting: they named their son Adolf Hitler Campbell.

Just for an extra dose of redneck racist goodness, their other two children go by the names of (and honestly we’re not making this up) JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell.

The ShopRite also refused to provide a blank cake for the parents to place little Adolf’s name on the cake as well, saying only that they “We believe the request … to inscribe a birthday wish to Adolf Hitler is inappropriate.”

The local paper some how managed to deliver a straight report, saying only that “Good names for a trio of toddlers? Heath and Deborah Campbell think so.”

Supermarket refuses to place name of child on cake. His first name is Adolf…. is a post from: The Inquisitr

Kids can fall into two categories, oh my god isn’t that kid cute, or oh my god that kid is so annoying if he wasn’t 9 I’d punch him.   Meet Alec Greven the precocious nine year old that if he wasn’t nine you would punch.

Alec Grevin has written a book that provides help for boys and men who are having difficulty making the talk with the ladiez.  Apparently its written from his enormous knowledge, experience, and observations of the trouble boys have getting a girl to like them in the school yard.

Check out the video.  I know you will agree with me, that in five years, this boy is going to have to go to Amazon and buy a book entitled “Standing up to Bullies”.  Trust me enjoy the 15 minutes kid, because in high school, the closest you are going to get to a girl, is through the slats in your locker as she walks past.

9 year old writes book on how to talk to girls is a post from: The Inquisitr