The world-renowned aeronautics engineer was hoping to catch up on the “Planet Money” podcast while in space.
Sources at NASA confirmed Saturday that astronaut George Holmes forgot to pack his headphones on a supply run to the International Space Station.
“We received a radio transmission from the spacecraft from Lieutenant Holmes shortly after his craft entered low Earth orbit,” reported mission control commander Roger Tillman. “He sounded irritated, said something about ‘every damn time.’ I guess he forgot to bring his headphones on the trip.”
According to NASA station, astronauts are not immune to common travelling annoyances experienced by Earth travellers every day, and mistakes like Holmes’s are shared by crew members of every space mission.
“Just after Apollo 11 launched, we got a broadcast from the spacecraft that Neil Armstrong himself forgot to bring a change of underwear for the mission,” recounted retired mission control officer Arthur Saracen. “We used to joke around that ‘the Commander’s going commando.’”
Said former ISS crewman Shane Kimbrough regarding Holmes’ situation, “Once you see the view the first time, space is actually pretty damn boring. I feel for George. Forgetting your headphones on these missions is a bitch and a half. If I hadn’t downloaded about a hundred albums and podcasts, I would’ve gone insane before my mission was even half over.”
Holmes, who is in space, hopes that he remembered to bring his toothbrush.
