Smokey the Bear Toy floating in ISS Hatchway

ISS032-E-011678 (3 Aug. 2012) --- Smokey Bear floats freely near a hatchway on the International Space Station. On May 15, 2012, Smokey traveled aboard the Soyuz spacecraft with NASA astronaut Joe Acaba and Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin to the space station. As a recognized symbol for wildland fire prevention, his presence on the orbiting complex also highlights the many areas of active space station research related to Earth observations, plant growth and combustion and materials sciences, as well as existing spinoff technologies in these areas. NASA, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the Texas Forest Service are teaming up to celebrate Smokey's 68th birthday Aug. 9 at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.