We have sent a lot of stuff to space. Along with more than 640 people, we’ve launched numerous non-human astronauts to space, including dozens of primates, over 30 Soviet dogs, mice, cats, jelly fish, tortoises, fish, and spiders. In 1947, the U.S. launched a group of fruit flies on a suborbital flight using a captured German V-2 rocket to study the effects of radiation. While they didn’t go into orbit, they were the first living things to reach space. We humans have launched more than 25,000 satellites into Earth orbit or beyond. Of those, nearly 17,000 still remain in orbit, but only around 14,200 remain operational.
All
the above were launched to study the feasibility and safety of space flight or
to study the effects of long-term weightlessness. But along with animals and
humans, plus communication and weather satellites, Earth resources, and other
scientific satellites, we have launched a few stranger items into space.
Several
space missions have included small pieces of the Wright Flyer, the first
airplane. On one such space flight, bits of the plane rode with Apollo 11 to
the Moon’s surface. Those missions demonstrated how human flight has come full
circle.
Several
companies now offer “space burials,” sending cremated remains into space. Elysium
Space is one of several such companies. With them, you can launch a small
portion of one’s remains sealed in a small capsule. They offer such services as
a “Shooting Star” memorial in which the remains are released into orbit where
the small capsule falls back to earth, burning up like a shooting star. Or you
might opt for a “Lunar Memorial” in which the remains are delivered to the
Moon’s surface. In 1997, the first space burial involved sending remains of
Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, to enjoy the final frontier.
Elysium claims the remains of more than 640 people have flown in space.
Tesla
launched Elon Musk’s personal cherry red Tesla Roadster with a dummy astronaut
sitting at the wheel in 2018. The car with “Starman” was sent into a solar
orbit that took it out to the distance of Mars, and it still floats out there.
A
significant part of NASA’s mission involves educating and exciting kids about
space. NASA knows kids like dinosaurs, so in 1985, they launched some bones
from a Maiasaur (“Good Mother”) dinosaur to be used for school educational
programs. That was the first of multiple dinosaur fossils launched to space.
Objects flown in space can sell to collectors for huge amounts of money, so
some dinosaur fossils were simply flown to create a greater selling price.
Lego
makes popular kid’s building block toys. NASA sent a Lego set to the International
Space Station, hoping that such missions will inspire kids to consider fields
in aerospace engineering.
Over
the years, astronauts have smuggled object with them on space flights. Alan
Shepard, Apollo 14 commander, smuggled 3 golf balls and a six iron club head
modified to attach to a sample scoop handle. The first ball was barely hit and
rolled into a small, nearby crater, the first lunar hole in one. The second was
a better hit. Shepard claimed it went for “miles and miles” in the reduced
lunar gravity, although subsequent analysis of the video by NASA engineers
found it actually traveled a mere 40 yards. I’ve had shorter tee shots in my
very short golfing career.
During
astronaut Scott Kelly’s year-long mission on the ISS in 2016, his twin brother
Mark secretly sent a gorilla suit on a cargo resupply mission. Scott wore it
while chasing crewmates through the station. Videos of him cavorting
as a gorilla are still available on the internet.
Who
knows what strange object some space agency will next send to space?
Each month, I write an astronomy-related column piece
for the Oklahoman newspaper. After
it is published there, I post that same column to my blog page.
This is reprinted with
permission from the Oklahoman and www.Oklahoman.com.
