11Curiosity
In 2013, NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover hummed Happy Birthday to itself by vibrating its sample-analysis unit to obtain the musical tune, but did so only on its first “birthday.”
12Gemini XII
On NASA's Gemini XII flight, the computer docking system failed and Buzz Aldrin successfully calculated the docking trajectory using a sextant and a slide rule.
13Electricity in space
In 1996, NASA generated electricity with a satellite on a 13-mile long wire, released from Space Shuttle. The wire was clearly visible from Earth and was one of the biggest human-made objects in space.
14Falcon 9 booster
In 2011, NASA estimated that it would have cost the agency about US$4 billion to develop a rocket-like SpaceX's Falcon 9 booster using their traditional contracting processes. SpaceX's total development cost for the Falcon 9 rocket was estimated at approximately US$390 million.
15Gemini 6
NASA as a practical joke played Hello Dolly to wake the Gemini 6 crew in 1965. The astronauts loved it and a tradition was born. Until 2011, families were allowed to choose a favorite song to wake up their loved ones in space.
16Frozen bacteria
In a 2005 NASA study, scientists successfully revived bacteria that had been in a frozen pond in Alaska for 32,000 years. The microbes had been frozen since when woolly mammoths still roamed the Earth. Once the ice melted, they began swimming around, unaffected, and quickly became infectious.
17NASA firefighters
NASA firefighters use military armored personnel carriers during every space shuttle launch in case they need to rescue astronauts at the launch site.
