In space we can find not only stations and satellites, but also other unlikely objects, such as a car, a lightsaber of Star Wars or LEGO sets. Even human ashes! One step further in tributes: Definitely out of this world.
Because we don’t focus on objects sent to experiment, no. But to stay in outer space and say “was in outer space.” Some have returned, increasing their value in the event of an auction. Others remain off our planet.
Next, let’s take a look at the strangest things sent into space, thanks to the friends of Sent Into Space.
A Buzz Lightyear doll
Sent in 2008 aboard the space shuttle Discovery, this Buzz Lightyear doll, a character from Toy Story, spent 15 months outside our planet. It was part of a collaboration between Disney and NASA.
Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber in Star Wars
Many, many members of NASA are fans of the Star Wars saga. Thus, in 2007, a team of seven astronauts carried Luke Skywalker’s (character played by Mark Hammill) lightsaber to the International Space Station.
Human ashes in space
Companies like Celestis offer services to take ash into space. It is expected that by the end of 2022 the remains of Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, will be honored in this way; Nichelle Nichols, Lieutenant Uhura from the same series; engineer James “Cotty” Doohan and VFX maxo Douglas Trumbull.
An Elon Musk car
On one of the SpaceX flights, Elon Musk’s company, the billionaire sent a Tesla Roadster vehicle. It happened in 2018, and the car was “driven” by a test dummy named Starman.
lego pieces
In 2011, for the Juno mission to Jupiter, the spacecraft carried three custom LEGO figures: the Roman gods Jupiter and Juno, and the astronomer Galileo Galilei.
A sketch of Andy Warhol in space
The legendary Andy Warhol left, among his hundreds (thousands?) of works, a sketch for the sculptor Forrest Myers. The most curious thing is that Warhol’s drawing contained something similar to a penis. He traveled into space on the Apollo 12 lander in 1969.
Amelia Earhart’s watch
The legendary Amelia Earhart was the first woman to cross the Atlantic by plane, in 1928. However, on her second attempt to go around the world, she died in 1937, disappearing in the Pacific Ocean. A Longines watch that belonged to the aviator was brought to the International Space Station by astronaut Shannon Walker.
Wright brothers airplane parts
Brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright, aviation pioneers, “took a trip” into space via a part of their first plane. They were bits of cloth and wood from the Kitty Hawk. Who was in charge of moving them? Neil Armstrong, on the first flight to the Moon, in 1969. The pieces are now in the Smithsonian museum.