How NASA Censored Astronauts Swearing

During the early days of the space race the public relations handlers at NASA had an image to uphold.

America's astronauts were the new face of a nation: they were the bold, brave explorers of the beyond. But this image didn't always align with the more rough-and-tumble types who got the job.

Barring a couple of scientists, almost all of Americas early astronauts had moved over from the military.

Many having been experimental aircraft test pilots, a job not exactly known for its dependence on decorum.

As space history writer Amy Shira Teitel notes, some astronauts had trouble maintaining family-friendly language, and NASA went to sometimes great lengths to keep that fact under wraps.

In some cases, as Teitel covers in her Vintage Space video series, sometimes this censorship amounted to little more than scrubbing down transcripts, replacing “farts” with “gas” and cutting a few f-bombs. (Caution: the video contains cussing.)

In other cases, however, NASA took great pains to clean up astronauts' language. A few years ago Teitel wrote about the space agency's trick to harness one unnamed astronaut's filthy mouth:

One [astronaut] in particular had the unfortunate habit of filling space with profanities, when his mind wandered.  

This posed a problem for NASA - with the world watching astronauts walking around the lunar surface, how could the organization be sure the his transmissions from the Moon would be family-friendly? 

In preparing for his mission, NASA had the astronaut hypnotized. Rather than curse, a psychiatrist put the idea in his head that he would rather hum when his mind wandered.  

The hypnotized astronaut is rarely named, but only one man can be heard humming as he skipps across the lunar surface.  

Transmissions from Commander Pete Conrad are punctuated with "dum de dum dum dum" and "dum do do do, do do" making him the likliest candidate.

Even today astronauts maintain a largely squeaky clean image (best personified, perhaps, by former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield's endearingly non-threatening mustache). But just as before, what we see on the surface isn't all there is, the inner lives of astronauts in orbit are filled with frustrations and annoyances, and, probably, a few interlaced swears.

ITU Implores Iran To Stop Jamming EutelSat

The global regulator of satellite orbital slot and broadcast frequencies asked Iran to track down the source of intentional jamming of Eutelsat satellite signals that carry news broadcasts into Iran.

In a delicately worded statement apparently designed not to antagonize Iranian authorities, the Geneva-based International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said it accepted the findings of the French National Frequencies Agency concluding that the interference to Eutelsat signals, particularly those from the BBC reporting on Iranian politics, is coming from Iranian territory.

The French agency, on behalf of Paris-based Eutelsat, has written to Iran on multiple occasions in the past year asking that the interference cease. The ITU Radio Regulations Board also contacted Iran, whose administration responded that it did not know the source of the signal jamming, which has interfered with broadcasts from Eutelsat satellites located at four different orbital slots.

The BBC has moved its BBC Persian news broadcasts from one satellite to another in an attempt to find an orbital slot that permits broadcasts into Iran but makes it difficult for Iran-based jammers to interfere with the signal.

The ITU’s Radio Regulations Board concluded that “the interfering signals appear to be of a nature” that is forbidden under ITU rules and is originating in Iran “based on the measurements provided by the administration of France, and having confidence in the measurement techniques.”

The ITU, a United Nations affiliate, has little power to enforce its rulings. It depends on member nations to respect the regulations as a matter of good faith in the general interest of maximizing the use of the radio spectrum and satellite orbital positions.

The ITU said it “urged the administration of Iran to continue its effort in locating the source of interference and to eliminate it as a matter of the highest priority.” It said it has asked the French administration and its own Radiocommunication Bureau “to assist the administration of Iran in identifying the source of the interference.”

Eutelsat has been telling French authorities for months about the interference, and the 27-nation European Union has urged Iran to stop it.

Airbus A340-600 Crash Site - Concealed?

A brand new Airbus A340-600 sits sparkling on the runway in Toulouse, France, awaiting inspection and approval by its new owners.



The Airbus A340-600 is the very pinnacle of luxury at a very high price. Around $200 million dollars before tax!



.....but who would not pay that kind of money for this level of luxury. It is head and shoulders above cut price pirates and Virgin Atlantic!



......but wait something seems to have happened to the aircraft. It seems suddenly bent out of shape? How can that be? Maybe its a camera trick or something.



No! This is one broken aircraft. Looking like Humpty Dumpty broken on the wall. How could that happen. Did someone leave the hand-brake off?



What's that you say? The new owner sent over an untrained crew and they put the engines in full throttle to test them and then disengaged the safety alarms.

This, effectively let off the brakes and the aircraft accelerated forward and crashed into the wall. Sssh! you cannot tell anyone because its a secret!

Apparently the owner, the crew (if they survived?) and EADS Airbus are very embarassed by the whole incident. Maybe that's why it didn't appear in the news. Are they still looking for the cause of the crash off Brazil? Did someone say they were flying too slow in the rain?