Astronauts - They're Just Like Us

In case you missed it with all the 9/11 coverage, NASA's sent up a crew to do a little home improvement on the Space Station. As anyone who's ever tried to put together an IKEA, West Elm or other crappy piece of furniture can tell you, you're likely to end up with an extra bolt or drop a screw which then rolls into the Netherlands under the fridge/bed/couch. You'd think someone as trained as an astronaut would be a bit more careful. I mean, we're not talking about a $29.99 end table here. Best add on a few 000s.

Astronaut Joe Tanner earns my respect today for showing us what Z's long suspected - NASA's just like us: filled with "Doh! Shit, where'd it go?" handymen. Tanner was puttering around on a space walk and lost a bolt, washer and a spring. While the washer safely floated away, no one could find the bolt and spring.

"Not a good thing," Tanner said. "Let's hope it doesn't end up somewhere in the mechanism. I don't see it anywhere."

And this, dear readers, is our tax money put to good use.