How Am I Supposed To Boldly Go On That?
A toilet from a 1970s Russian Soyuz space rocket is one of dozens of space race relics going under the hammer.
It is part of sci-fi fan Phil Parker's collection which also includes a Skylab astronaut's toilet bag and space nappy. Signed toiletries bags, a watch worn in space by cosmonaut Valery Polyakov, helmets, gloves, oxygen masks and Nasa controllers' headsets are among 70 lots expected to fetch up to £40,000.
The space gadgets, which Mr Parker has accumulated over the last 35 years, go under the hammer at Christie's in London. Mr Parker, 61, a computer engineer, from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, said: "It started when I was kid reading science fiction books. By the time Russian cosmonaut Yuro Gagarin was up there in 1961, I was thoroughly hooked on space travel. I found myself collecting all the space memorabilia I could lay my hands on. Over the years I have given 650 space talks. One of the most frequently asked questions is: "How do they go to the toilet?" The answer is, "With difficulty".
Reading the lot descriptions it says that liquids are ejected into space but the solids are brought home. Why I ask myself. Is space poo any worse than space wee? They'd both be frozen solid when they left the ship and would burn up in the atmosphere before hitting the Earth so why bother bringing it all back?
That's another CV classic:- Soyuz Shit Shoveler.
Hey Ho. Comments?
There were doubts as to how genuine some of the artefacts were.
It is part of sci-fi fan Phil Parker's collection which also includes a Skylab astronaut's toilet bag and space nappy. Signed toiletries bags, a watch worn in space by cosmonaut Valery Polyakov, helmets, gloves, oxygen masks and Nasa controllers' headsets are among 70 lots expected to fetch up to £40,000.
The space gadgets, which Mr Parker has accumulated over the last 35 years, go under the hammer at Christie's in London. Mr Parker, 61, a computer engineer, from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, said: "It started when I was kid reading science fiction books. By the time Russian cosmonaut Yuro Gagarin was up there in 1961, I was thoroughly hooked on space travel. I found myself collecting all the space memorabilia I could lay my hands on. Over the years I have given 650 space talks. One of the most frequently asked questions is: "How do they go to the toilet?" The answer is, "With difficulty".
Reading the lot descriptions it says that liquids are ejected into space but the solids are brought home. Why I ask myself. Is space poo any worse than space wee? They'd both be frozen solid when they left the ship and would burn up in the atmosphere before hitting the Earth so why bother bringing it all back?
That's another CV classic:- Soyuz Shit Shoveler.
Hey Ho. Comments?
There were doubts as to how genuine some of the artefacts were.
The original article is here.
subscribe to these commentsI'm glad I don't know who these people are IRL.
revrobuk (15-05-2007 21:42:20)
Another image that won't go away...
SARA (15-05-2007 21:14:55)
take my word for it, you don't want to know what type of books he reads, nor why he needs two hands
revrobuk (15-05-2007 17:52:40)
I have to ask manny, is it a particularly smelly book? Personally I just don't read Jeffrey Archer...
garethwi (15-05-2007 08:03:15)
Of all the space relics to collect....
manny (14-05-2007 23:42:24)
I may bid for one of those oxygen masks,it means i can read my book with two hands instead of one holding my nose.
garethwi (18-05-2007 20:26:21)