THE SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission launched a crew of four civilian astronauts in the early hours of Tuesday (10) and a stuffed animal .
The toy Shiba named Asteroid was designed by Liv, a child who, while undergoing treatment for cancer, approached the Inspiration4 flight team and was asked to draw the zero-gravity indicator. The object is used to symbolize the moment when the flight reaches microgravity — and floats when it does.
“I can tell you anything about space, from the miles from Earth to the Sun to all the missions, basically. I had cancer in 2021 and I’m a cancer survivor, just like Haley,” Liv told collectSPACE’s YouTube channel.
Hayley Arceneaux, a former patient and physician assistant at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, flew on the Inspiration4 spaceflight in September 2021. She met Liv during her treatment and led her to become part of the Polaris Dawn ground support team — and to design the Asteroid plush.
“My main idea for Asteroid was based on Elon’s dog, Floki,” Liv said, referring to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s pet dog.
The little animal was so successful that SpaceX is selling copies of the plush toy that went into space with the ship for around R$142 — the profits raised will go to St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital, at the request of former patient Liv.
The space enthusiast said her goal with Asteroid is for it to be “for all kids and help them see, ‘Oh, The Asteroid went to space so I can too. I can make my dreams come true .’”
SpaceX’s latest mission — a daring and risky foray into Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts by a crew of four civilians, which also aims to carry out the first commercial spacewalk — took off in the early hours of Tuesday (10).
First, SpaceX’s capsule aims to take the crew to record heights in orbit around Earth, surpassing the milestone set by NASA’s Gemini 11 mission in 1966, which reached 840 miles (1,373 km). If successful, Polaris Dawn will surpass that record by about 20 miles (32 km).
Additionally, the flight could also mark the furthest journey a woman has ever made into space.
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This content was originally published in Polaris Dawn: child defines object to indicate zero gravity; understand on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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