Brazil, Russia to sign space accord

What's interesting about this is that one of the reasons Brazil sought out the Russians as a partner in space exploration is because of the 2003 Columbia disaster. Now if that tragedy was the end result of neglect or poor funding then as usual we have nobody else to blame but ourselves for other countries possibly trumping us in the field of space technology. And even if it was just bad, tragic luck, space was one of the few domains left that we dominated without equal. Now the Chinese and soon probably most of the world will be restarting the space race, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Competition is good in almost all facets of life, however, I can't help but feel like because of an unread public and seemingly dense leadership, we're quickly losing all the little things that make this country special. Maybe I'be being an alarmist but I feel like it won't be long before the only thing that seperates us from the rest of the world won't be our "freedom and opportunities" but instead the army of evangelical Christians in the South.

BRASILIA, Brazil - Brazil will sign an agreement with Russia on Tuesday to send the first Brazilian astronaut into space, the Science and Technology Ministry said.

Brazilian air force Lt. Col. Marcos Cesar Pontes will fly aboard a Russian Soyuz to the International Space Station, the ministry said Monday. The trip is scheduled for March 22.

Pontes, who is currently undergoing physical exams in Russia ahead of training for the voyage, will spend about a week aboard the space station, performing experiments involving the environment and micro-gravity. More