COLBERT in space

Colbert is in space -- well, not Stephen Colbert the satirist, but C.O.L.B.E.R.T., the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill, which was named after the Comedy Central star in April. After a week of false starts, the space shuttle carrying the treadmill and an international crew of astronauts blasted off on Friday.

Houston Press blogger Richard Connelly reported that at a preflight press conference, a NASA official, when asked if the space agency should do more "fun" stuff like the C.O.L.B.E.R.T., replied "You should answer that yourself. We're engineers. It's the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill." Ouch! Sounds like that guy's not an it-getter!

Connelly also revealed that astronaut Jose Hernandez is bringing an Oakland Raiders team flag to place aboard the space station. Talk Show News hopes word of the Silver and Black's crushing 45-7 preseason loss to the New Orleans Saints hasn't reached the astronaut yet, or Hernandez may be too depressed to fulfill his mission.

Here's Stephen addressing NASA, stating how proud he is that his "space treadmill" will "finally help slim down all those chubby astronauts":