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Armed and dangerous

The yacht was anchored 200 meters off the Qeensland coast when Chris Slough dived into the water. That’s when it got him. “I felt a couple of little stings on my chest,” he says, “but I thought nothing of it and carried on”. But as soon as he got back on the boat he realized he was in a big trouble. “I suddenly came over very nauseous”, he says. Within minutes he was in agonizing pain, vomiting and struggling to breathe. “It felt like my organs were popping out”.

Chris had been stung by an irukandji, a vicious creature named after an aboriginal tribe whose folklore tells of a terrible illness that struck people who went swimming in the sea. Irukandjis, a species of box jellyfish, grow no bigger than a peanut, yet relative to their size are probably the most toxic creatures on earth, putting many people in hospital each year with “irukandji syndrome”. All but invisible in the water, their transparent bodies are covered from head to tentacle tip in stinger cells that discharge at the slightest touch, harpooning your skin with venomous barbs. The sting itself is often so mild that you barely notice it – until the powerful venom kicks in.

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TalgatAmangeldyulyMusabayev was born on January 7, 1951, inKargalycity,Kazakhstan. He is aKazakhtest pilot and an astronaut who flew on threespaceflights.

Musabayev graduated from Engineering Institute of Civil Aviation in Rigain 1974. Then in 1983 he graduated from Higher Military Aviation School inAkhtubinsk, with an engineering diploma. Musabayev received several awards as an aerobatic flyer and was selected as a cosmonaut on May 11, 1990. In 1991, he was appointed to Major and transferred to the astronaut group of Air Force (TsPK-11). On 11 May, 1990 Musabayev was selected to be an astronaut.

His first spaceflight was as a crew member of the long-duration mission Mir EO-16, which was launched and landed by the spacecraftSoyuz TM-19. Musabayev was designated Flight Engineer; the mission lasted from July 1, 1994 to November 4, 1994, for a total duration of 125 days 22 hours 53 minutes.His second spaceflight was as Commander of another long-duration expedition calledMir EO-25, which was launched by the spacecraftSoyuz TM-27. The mission lasted from January 29, 1998 to 25 August 25, 1998, for a total duration of 207 days 12 hours 49 minutes.

His third mission was as Commander of ISS EP-1, which was a visiting mission to theInternational Space Station. It was launched bySoyuz TM-32, and was landed bySoyuz TM-31on May 6, 2001, for a total duration of 7 days 22 hours 4 minutes. This visiting mission was notable for carrying the first ever payingspace touristDennis Tito.

In 2007 he was among the top 30 cosmonauts by time in space.

He became a deputy head of the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academyand was appointed Major- General in September 2003. In the same year he retired as a cosmonaut. From 2005 to 2007 he was General Director of "Bayterek" Corp. which was a Kazakhstani-Russian Joint Venture.

On 11 April 2007 Musabayev was appointed Head of the National Space Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan, also known as KazCosmos. He is married and has two children.