Mir Scientists Study Effects Of Weightlessness On Mortal Terror

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Mir Scientists Study Effects Of Weightlessness On Mortal Terror


KOROLYOV, RUSSIA--U.S. and Russian scientists are increasingly excited
about the Mir space station project, which promises to reveal more than
has ever been known about the scientific relationship between
weightlessness and mortal terror.

"By stranding our scientists on a dilapidated space station with faulty
wiring, loose hardware, and malfunctioning air systems," NASA head Daniel
Goldin said, "we have created extremely favorable conditions for learning
about spaceborne panic."

The two Russians and one American on board the station are reportedly
terrified beyond lucidity.

Among the groundbreaking experiments conducted on board Mir: a June 25
collision with a cargo craft that depressurized the Spektr module; last
week's emergency power shortage, caused by a disconnected cable; and the
periodic release of "dry ice" steam that simulates a shipboard fire. All
have been deemed a huge success by agency heads.

"They are in a constant state of what aerospace scientists term
'mind-shattering terror,' frightened for their very lives," Russian
mission director Vladimir Solovyov said. "And we have not even used the
hull-mounted Alien puppet that taps on the window yet."

"We have also taken huge leaps in our understanding of the patterns
created when one wets his pants in the weightlessness of space," Solovyov
said. "The urine spreads out in an expanding sphere, something we did not
expect."

Taking a break from his busy schedule, astronaut Michael Foale told ABC
News reporters: "Where is Mommy?"

"Please tell me the access code to the Soyuz capsule," Russian cosmonaut
Aleksandr Lazutkin said. "I would like to return to the chaotic government
and widespread hunger of my homeland."

Scientists expect to gain even more useful data during an experiment at
a.m. tomorrow. As the astronauts sleep, whirling red siren lights will
flood the cabin while an ear-splitting klaxon alarm jolts them awake.
Detailed scientific data will then be collected on such variables as open
weeping, defecation and hair loss.


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