OK, well not really. Google and Nasa have began working on a solution to replace the old-n-busted radio equipment system that was developed back in the ’70s.

The project is called "Interplanetary Internet" and will be tested on the International Space Station sometime in 2009.

I think this is friggin cool but I don’t want to see Mission Specialists playing "World of Warcraft" from space!

Have you ever longed to hop aboard one of the space shuttles bound for outer space? Have you daydreamed of spending a week or two on the International Space Station?

Your wishes might come true now that Space Adventures is looking to send a couple of regular folks into space in 2008 and 2009 aboard a Soyuz craft, and the firm will soon be selling seats for the low, low price of $100 million apiece.

Each experience includes cosmonaut training and over a week in space orbiting the Earth aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

"With the successful flights of the first and only five private space explorers, we not only created the space tourism industry, but now, because of the global market demand, we have secured two additional Soyuz seats and have proposed to the Russian space agency the purchase of seats in 2010, and beyond," said Eric Anderson, president and CEO of Space Adventures. "The unique provision to Space Adventures of these commercial Soyuz seats has enabled my team to engage with potential clients from all over the world who have the interest in private spaceflight, the financial capability and the insatiable desire to explore."

Space Adventures, the only company to have successfully launched private explorers to space, is headquartered in Vienna, VA. with an office in Moscow. The company’s advisory board includes Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, Shuttle astronauts Sam Durrance, Tom Jones, Byron Lichtenberg, Norm Thagard, Kathy Thornton, Pierre Thuot, Charles Walker, Skylab astronaut Owen Garriott and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Usachev.

Okay, so, it’s really a toilet, but as a member of the mail gender, I find that thing utterly terrifying. Consider the tube sticking up between the strap-down feet restraints. Scary. But on a more serious note, it looks like the Russians have something going on here, because NASA was willing to lay out $19 million. They’ll be used, ironically, only in the American section of the International Space Station, while the Russians will continue to use whatever it is they’re currently using. And, oh, by the way, this contraption includes turning urine into potable water, and while I’m familiar with the concept from Dune, that doesn’t mean I’m comfortable with it.

NASA is considering commercializing the transport of passengers and cargo to the International Space Station so it can devote its resources to outer space exploration.

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said that NASA does not have the resources to run continuous manned space missions and meet all of its goals set by the NASA Authorization Act of 2005.

"By stimulating the growth of commercial space enterprise, NASA plans to free itself to focus on long-range exploration to the moon and Mars," NASA said in Tuesday’s announcement.

NASA is looking in the private sector to take over the Earth-orbit duites activities and has signed three new agreements with private companies to share information regarding its technology.

Constellation Services International (CSI) of Laguna Woods CA,
SpaceDev in Poway, CA and Houston’s Spacehab are three companies which already have former NASA employees and staff. Two more companies are being contacted as well.