mcc

Presenting: "Space Karen".

This is Karen Nyberg, who was a NASA astronaut from 1991 to 2020 and logged 180 days in space between 2008 and 2013. In 2013 while stationed on the ISS she sewed a stuffed dinosaur, believed to be the only stuffed animal ever manufactured in space, out of fabric scavenged from Roscosmos food containers and stuffing from a shredded T-shirt.

Dec 16, 2022 at 11:38pmWeb
Show threadmccDec 16, 2022
Pictured: The stuffed dinosaur Karen Nyberg handmade in space, name unknown. https://www.space.com/22988-astronaut-sews-dinosaur-toy-space.html
'Made in Space!' Astronaut Sews Dinosaur Toy from Space Station Scraps

There is a dinosaur on the International Space made by NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg. See how she sewed the dinosaur toy in space here.

Space
Show threadmccDec 16, 2022
FULL DISCLOSURE: The above posts initially inaccurately described the stuffed dinosaur as "knitted". It is, obviously as you can see from the photograph, sewn. I have corrected this with the Mastodon "edit" feature.
Show threadbrett danversDec 17, 2022

@mcc it's handy isn't it!

I read your first post, scrolled down and read this one. Scrolled back up an it had changed. And it shows the editing time.

Show threadCrystal Huff (they/them)Dec 17, 2022
@mcc I love everything about this thread!
Show threadAvery Prometheus RosenDec 18, 2022
@mcc Hahah, one subtoot included for free with original toot.
Show threadTerrafied Kestrel Dec 16, 2022

@mcc

"believed to be the only stuffed animal ever manufactured in space" was not on my "Odd statements bingo card today.

Show threadmccDec 16, 2022
@terrafiedkestrel Technically, there's no way we can prove that stuffed animals weren't created during previous NASA or Roscosmos missions, but for whatever reason kept secret.
Show threadshorkDec 16, 2022
@mcc @terrafiedkestrel time for a FOIA request
Show threadDavid EmmettDec 18, 2022
@mcc @terrafiedkestrel this what they are really hiding at Roswell. Space haberdashery.
Show threadSiobhán McElduffDec 17, 2022
@terrafiedkestrel @mcc hoping this is a trivia question one day
Show threadBagheeraAltered ​ Dec 16, 2022
@mcc knitting in zero gravity seems difficult
Show threadmccDec 16, 2022
@BagheeraAltered You think so? I would have guessed that it would be a little more convenient because things stay where you put them instead of falling by gravity. It might help that the fabric seems to be a little bit rigid...
Show threadNobody In ParticularDec 17, 2022
@mcc @BagheeraAltered In a gravity environment, when you put things down, friction keeps them in place. In zero gravity, it's impossble to place things with exactly zero velocity, so they will slowly drift around, and you'll be forever coralling them back.
Show threadbrocolie (tots not a vampire)Dec 16, 2022
@mcc it looks so good too, I wanna hug it
Show threadChris MurphyDec 16, 2022
@mcc Not to be pedantic but that looked sewn not knitted...
Show threadmccDec 16, 2022
@chris Oh, hm, I think you're right.
Show threadChris MurphyDec 16, 2022
@mcc But cool either way!
Show threadWayne WernerDec 17, 2022
@chris @mcc to be pedantic, that was pedantic 🤣
Show threadChris MurphyDec 17, 2022
@ketmorco @mcc and that’s recursive
Show threadvDec 17, 2022
@mcc it makes me happy that it was then played with by a 3 year old, rather than immediately going to some museum somewhere
Show threadmccDec 17, 2022
@v I sincerely wonder whether / how long it survived
Show threadvDec 17, 2022
@mcc same. I hope it got chewed on, or lost in a shopping mall, or something equally undramatic.
Show threadTobias MiggeDec 17, 2022
@mcc 👆 @Delasaster
Show threadOdradekDec 17, 2022
@mcc @mikamckinnon 👀 🧸
Show threadOhsinDec 17, 2022
@mcc Sewsie the spacedino stuffed with the right stuff! 😅
Show threadStephane Morichere-MatteDec 18, 2022
@mcc @threddyrex meet Space Rex!
Show threadmarktaylorDec 17, 2022
@mcc Cool!
Show threadLeigh HoneywellDec 17, 2022
@mcc this is so unreasonably wholesome, ty for blessing the TL with it
Show threadWayne WernerDec 17, 2022

@mcc it's very wonderful that both real Space Karens are united against imposters:

https://twitter.com/AstroKarenN/status/1593649510164504576?s=20&t=tZTJ-_SAQHK7FdnAC7lF0A

Karen L. Nyberg on Twitter

“Space Karen solidarity! 🙌”

Twitter
Show threadBranwen OShea (she/her)Dec 17, 2022
@mcc Love this!
Show threadChristian GrausDec 17, 2022
@mcc hero
Show threadJoLtNboltDec 17, 2022
@mcc maybe Elon should be renamed SpaceKari
Show threadClaudius LinkDec 17, 2022
@mcc that's a Space Karen I will support
Show threadNikiDec 17, 2022
@mcc Karen Nyberg was the first astronaut I met, at a presentation talk by four of the STS-124 crew. Introduced by Capt Mark Kelly as "the brains of the crew".
Show threadmccDec 17, 2022
@nikiw124 The only astronaut I've ever met was Edward Lu. I ganked the microwave from him. He was waiting to use a microwave, and I cut in line, and then afterward I saw him putting something in and I was like "oh no, he was waiting in line for the microwave and I didn't realize it". Later I found out he was an astronaut. That was the only time I've interacted with an astronaut
Show threadmccDec 17, 2022
@nikiw124 The most undignified thing about this already undignified interaction is the food which I ganked the microwave to heat was a "Banquet" pot pie from a line that was very shortly afterward recalled for salmonella
Show threadSmittyHalibutDec 17, 2022
@mcc The ORIGINAL and still the BEST Space Karen.
Show threadJulie RomanowskiDec 17, 2022
@mcc this gets you a follow. Love it!
Show threadJason B 🧙‍♂️Dec 17, 2022
@mcc she's a better Space Karen than that Musk creature I've been calling that.
Show threadEsther SchindlerDec 17, 2022
@mcc You can watch her #quilt in space! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0c1CijmH7o
NASA Astronaut Karen Nyberg Invites Quilters to Create a Space Square

YouTube
Show threadJobDec 17, 2022
@mcc
Show threadSovaDec 17, 2022
@vanderZwan @mcc I actually thought this was going to be about someone demanding to speak to mission control. 😂
Show threadJoyce ParkDec 18, 2022
@mcc This is why I encourage us to all use "Melon Husk" as our codename, not "Space Karen".
Show threadsbiDec 18, 2022
@mcc Also see this: https://twitter.com/kejames/status/1593497948868034560
Dr. Karen James on Twitter

“I was space Karen first, dammit.”

Twitter
Show threadmccDec 18, 2022
@sbi Turns out Ms. James is on Mastodon too! https://mastodon.social/@kejames@mastodon.online/109526967824410441
Show threadsbiDec 18, 2022

@mcc Oh, thank you!

(That's a wild way to link to her profile BTW, which didn't work here. I think https://mastodon.online/@kejames and @kejames should both work.)

Show threadKaren JamesDec 19, 2022
@mcc @sbi FTR I have not been to space; I’m just a big space geek and scientist with space connections. I’m trying to make that clear everywhere this thread gets traction.
Show threadsbiDec 19, 2022
@kejames @mcc Yeah, I had seen this. It's still a very funny tweet, and I can't help pointing people at it. I am (not really) sorry about that.
Show threadKaren JamesDec 19, 2022
@sbi @mcc oh that’s fine!
Show threadKaren JamesDec 19, 2022
@sbi @mcc I’m surprised just @kejames works. What if there were at-kejames-es on other instances?
Show threadKaren JamesDec 19, 2022
@sbi @mcc @kejames
Show threadsbiDec 19, 2022
@kejames @mcc I think your local instance shortens this for you, even though I wrote the full name.
Show threadKaren JamesDec 19, 2022
@sbi @mcc ahhhh I see. Thank you.
Show threadmccDec 19, 2022
@sbi @kejames Interesting to me: @kejames by itself shows up for me shortened to @kejames, even though kejames and I are NOT on the same server. I guess this is because mastodon.online and mastodon.social are run by the same organization, so maybe they're secretly the same server on the inside? Hm.
Show threadsbiDec 19, 2022
@mcc @kejames No, there's no secret cabal behind this. It's just that your instance/client shortens this. I'm on Tusky for Android right now, and in your post I see a version of Karen's handle with, and one without, the link. So the full handle gets shortened visually, but still works as a full handle, whereas your self-shortened one doesn't really work, because it's actually not a valid handle.
Show threadmccDec 19, 2022

@sbi Oh, I was trying to link this specific post. https://mastodon.online/@kejames/109526967577944042

On mastodon dot social if you right-click the date and copy link, which is what I'm used to from "Twitter", it apparently gives you a bad URL, whereas clicking on the … next to the post and saying "copy link to post' gives you a good URL. TIL!

Karen James (@[email protected])

@[email protected] @[email protected] Thank you so much but Karen Nyberg is 100% more space Karen than I am, having actually been to space. I just love space and talk about it a lot so it’s sort of part of my identity now.

Mastodon
Show threadsbiDec 19, 2022
@mcc Yep, I think this just got a bit more complicated with Mastodon 4.0.
Show threadHolokApr 8, 2023
@mcc @eloquence I love her so much! I like how she demonstrated running in space