Shuttle Launch with Russia

NASA is readying for Thursday's joint mission to the space station with Russia.

NASA has warned its astronauts not to drink the Tang from bottles labeled with skulls and cross bars.

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NASA has to perform a checklist of new safety measures, such as testing the shuttle for radiation.

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One of the shuttle's missions is to replace one of the station's three crew members.

But the Americans are a bit put off by the ominous way in which the Russians speak of that mission. At a press conference, a cosmonaut did the rabbit-ear finger quote thing around "replace", and then laughed uncontrollably.