This year's medals, the largest and heaviest in Olympic history, will be made almost entirely from the raw materials extracted and smelted at the Kennecott Copper Mine, owned by Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto. But now this mine is also at the centre of a federal lawsuit in the Utah courts, where Rio Tinto Kennecott stands accused of violating the US Clean Air Act for over five years.
To take a trip out of the earth's blue ether takes monumental guts and an unfathomable trust in technology and whilst we salute space exploration (that's the next travel frontier right?), let's not forget those truly 'otherworldly' sights on show a little closer to home. No need for a lunar capsule here, just a healthy dose of curiosity and a pair of fidgety feet.