The mezuzah, a religious object first used by nomadic Israelites wandering in the desert 4000 years ago, is being used by an American Jewish astronaut on his travels into outer space in 2008. Gregory Chamitoff will place mezuzahs on the door post near his bunk aboard NASA’s Discovery shuttle. Chamitoff says the mezuzahs will serve as constant reminders of his home and of his Jewish identity during his six-month-long stay on the International Space Station.

_{Image courtesy of NASA}