Stephen Colbert, host of the nightly 'The Colbert Report,' and NASA supporter says he loves space and loves it more now because of what research work NASA is doing with the International Space Station.
In a public service announcement released today Colbert says: "I love looking up at the stars and wondering what distant planets are still out there and to be discovered and can we frack them for methane."
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Colbert specifically mentions the agency's work aboard the space station to develop new vaccines to fight infectious and deadly diseases, such as salmonella and pneumonia. As resistance toward current antibiotics becomes more common, there is an increasing need for alternative treatments. He also hopes they are developing Carmel Space Chip Swirl ice cream.
Colbert has been involved with the ISS and NASA's role in the past. You may recall in 2009 NASA held a public contest to name the ISS's Node 3 living quarters which included a toilet. But a stink soon arose after Colbert supporters cast 230,539 write-in votes to name the new module "The Colbert." The top NASA-suggested name, "Serenity," came in second, more than 40,000 votes behind.
After weeks of controversy NASA finally went on his show and told him it wouldn't be naming its new space module after him, but did say it would identify a treadmill after the Comedy Central comedian.
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"We don't typically name U.S. space station hardware after living people and this is no exception," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations at the time. "However, NASA is naming its new space station treadmill the 'Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill,' or COLBERT. We have invited Stephen to Florida for the launch of COLBERT and to Houston to try out a version of the treadmill that astronauts train on."
Research on the orbital laboratory is focused on four areas: human health and exploration; basic life and physical sciences; earth and space science; and technology development to enable future exploration.
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