Isaac
Years ago
Atlantis shuttle to carry two basketballs to space
Space shuttle Atlantis will carry a pair of basketballs when it rockets away on a repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Liftoff is scheduled for Monday afternoon.
One of the balls belongs to the Globetrotters. It was deflated to save room inside the shuttle, which is jammed with spacewalking gear and new telescope parts.
The other is a century-old ball on loan from the University of Chicago that was once handled by the man the Hubble Telescope is named after.
Edwin Hubble the astronomer for whom the space telescope is named tossed the ball around in a 1909 victory against Indiana University. The 6-foot-2 Hubble was a star forward on the University of Chicago's Big Ten champion teams of 1907-1908 and 1908-1909.Doesn't appear to be for any experimental reasons, just a bit of a stunt?
"It is only fitting that the team that has seen more of the world than any other in history would have a presence beyond the stratosphere," Globetrotters chief executive officer Kurt Schneider said in a news release.Oh well, whatever furthers publicity of basketball and space exploration!
After Atlantis returns to Earth, the Globetrotters will put their red, white and blue space ball on display at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. The Hubble ball will go back to the University of Chicago.
Full story at Yahoo: Basketballs launching on space shuttle mission
