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TIL that in 2009, just in case Space Shuttle Atlantis was damaged while working on the Hubble, Endeavor was readied to launch a rescue mission. This was one of the few times both shuttle launch pads were occupied.

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4XjVX TIL of the $23 million dollar toilets designed by NASA for deep space missions. With odor control being a serious issue, NASA pays certified sniffers to smell the toilets after they've been used to evaluate odor-control measures. The lead engineer calls them the "unsung heroes of the space program".
gMW9 TIL Google has a “unsupervised” neural network that learned what a cat was while searching the Internet
wd9E TIL porcupines have natural antibiotics in their skin, and are the only mammals native to North America to have such protection.
Q9xL TIL when the KGB tried to blackmail Indonesian President Achmed Sukarno with videotapes of the president having sex with Russian women disguised as flight attendants, Sukarno wasn’t upset. He was pleased. He even asked for more copies of the video to show back in his country.
MeYZb TIL - Nicolas Cage's copy of Action Comics #1, featuring the first appearance of Superman and worth $2 million, was stolen from his house and found in an abandoned storage locker 11 years later.