Written by by By Ava Lee, CNN
From McDonald’s wings to chicken nuggets, 60-year-old Timothy Creamer once had a massive burger.
His reason: to test the theory that you can create food in space without them using industrial machinery.
After 29 years of trying, he finally succeeded — and now the test will get a major payout for Creamer, with McDonald’s paying him $1 million to reveal the experiment’s results.
One of the astronauts aboard the International Space Station will also get a promise of $100,000.
“In space, we have to think about the future and the future involves technology like artificial intelligence, especially the ability to adapt and adapt very quickly to changing climate and the ability to know when you need to prepare for something,” Creamer said in a press statement.
The McDonald’s test was carried out during space shuttle flights by astronaut Michael Foale, and the results were confirmed in a 2013 study.
The rocket that will take astronaut Tim Creamer’s $1 million test will blast off from Wallops Island, Virginia, on Monday evening. Credit: NASA
The money will be funnelled into a foundation that supports educational efforts and encourage young people to explore different careers, NASA officials said.
Alan Romankow, NASA’s director of human exploration and operations in Washington, said: “Although the project did not perform as well as hoped, I remain confident that Tim has actually gained valuable insight into NASA’s new generation of laser communication technology.”
On the world’s tallest man
Meanwhile, another long-distance experiment will launch from Wallops Island, Virginia, on Monday, dangling near the shoulders of Japan’s current tallest man.
It’s an opportunity to test a new high-altitude balloon and mission control system that’s designed to lift the human-carrying microplane by helium in this case, as well as keeping it aloft for a year or more, if necessary.
The balloon will release the capsule carrying ten regular humans, a payload payload, and the capsule attached with a special casing, said NASA officials.
Otto Warmbier, the American student who was held in North Korea for 17 months, was returned to the United States last week on the same day as his political opponent.
The capsule will be released near the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise area, Virginia. This exercise will run from March 1 to March 15. Credit: Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Alyssa Donaldson
It will be dropped from 20,000 feet and then change direction, as well as going into orbit and then drifting aimlessly until it reaches where it is desired to be: a parallel structure near the International Space Station.
The capsule will be released near the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise area, Virginia. This exercise will run from March 1 to March 15.
NASA officials said they are “running this project as a demonstration to demonstrate the ability to make a non-invasive observation of health and performance in microgravity.”
They added that the goal is to test the capsule’s ability to withstand temperatures below minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit and on impact with earth.
A similar test conducted in 2017 did not go so well. Although the capsule had landed several hours earlier, weather had hampered its recovery, and its planned automated landing was canceled. It ultimately crashed onto the ocean, gouging a 6-by-10-foot hole in the floor of the vessel.