NASA follows
Hawaii’s star brightAstronaut Ed Lu, currently hurtling above the Earth in the International Space Station with only cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko for company, wasn't born in Hawaii. It just seems like it. He adopted the islands during a stint here as an astrophysicist.
Shhhh -- it's Lu's 40th birthday today. As a surprise, all the employees at the Johnson Space Center are going to wear aloha shirts. It'll be a colorful change from the white, short-sleeve, pocket-protector look generally favored by NASA employees.
And the JSC cafeteria is serving a "Luau Special" -- Hawaiian Chicken with rice, egg roll, coconut cookie, pineapple tea and a lei for just $4.95. Even Perry Boys never had a deal like that. Poor Lu is likely sucking rubbery beef paste out of a tube.
Both Lu and Malenchenko had aloha shirts delivered to them via a Russian rocket early last month, and find the light, comfortable shirts are ideal space wear. They wear them all the time.
Aloha shirt designers, are you looking up into the heavens?
Burl Burlingame
bburlingame@starbulletin.com
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