not-so-magic carpet“It is a fantasy on earth but can humans fly in space?” ponders the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). We’ll soon have an answer.

Astronaut Koichi Wakata will attempt to ride a “flying” carpet inside the Japanese laboratory Kibo at the International Space Station (ISS).

And while that will no doubt provide invaluable data, it’s just 1 of 16 important tasks Wakata will be carrying out like “shoot liquid out of a drink container straw to see what happens.” JAXA received 1,597 suggestions on how Wakata could best utilize his time in space, and apparently these were the best.

It’s not a complete waste of time though. JAXA has invited companies to rent their astronauts by the hour (5.5 million yen/55,000 dollars) so consider this a test run for the 1st prostitute in space.