Research equipment and the minimum necessary for the life of the ship’s crew is far from all that a person sent outside the Earth. Cosmonauts are still “smugglers”. They manage to capture a wide variety of things from home. In addition, sending something into space is a good PR campaign, which large international companies periodically use.
To the point: Not only Belka and Strelka – why animals were sent and will be sent into space
golden music records
As part of the Voyager program in 1977, spacecraft placed records with the sounds of the Earth: the music of great composers (Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Stravinsky, the songs of Louis Armstrong and Chuck Berry), greetings in 55 languages, the voices of birds and the cries of animals, the noise of cities . In addition, photos and coordinates of the planet were attached to them.
💡 Interesting fact: The Voyager program was, first of all, interesting in that the vehicles within its framework were sent to the far reaches of the solar system. You can listen to the contents of the records that never returned to Earth from there on SoundCloud.
Amelia Earhart watch and scarf
In tribute to the famous pilot, who made a non-stop flight across the Atlantic and disappeared without a trace during a round-the-world trip, her watch and scarf went into space aboard the Atlantis shuttle. They circled the Earth several times and are currently on display at the Women’s Aviation Museum.
Secret head of cheese
In 2010, SpaceX took a “walk” into space and back to a head of Le Brouere cheese. This cargo was secret and carefully hidden from the media. The fact that the cheese was in space, humanity learned only when he successfully landed back.
💡 Interesting fact: the cheese sent into space appears to be a reference to a Monty Python sketch that was once popular. It can still be found on YouTube today.
human ashes
Space burial is the know-how of Celestis. They send from 1 to 7 grams of dust to different parts of the solar system. The farthest space burial is a probe sent to orbit Pluto. On board is the ashes of Clyde Tombaugh, the scientist who discovered this planet.
💡 Interesting fact: the ashes are sent only on passing vehicles, and not on some specialized ones. Actually, that is why the cost of this operation is not as expensive as it could be. For a unique opportunity they pay about 2.5 thousand dollars (about 150 thousand rubles).
Lego god figures
Space marketing – in 2011, Lego launched three of its figures to Jupiter: the god Jupiter, his wife Juno and Galileo Galilei. This event was watched with interest not only by children, but also by 30-year-old bearded “boys”. Thus, the designer of the designer attracted additional attention to himself, although he was going to interest the younger generation in studying space.
Golf balls
There was a game of golf on the moon. In 1971, astronaut Alan Shepard suddenly took out 2 balls and sent them flying with the help of one of the lunar instruments. Mikhail Tyurin was the second golfer in space – he also captured a club on the ISS.
💡 Interesting fact: golf balls hit the Earth satellite with the permission of NASA. Before the flight, they were even sterilized in a special way so as not to bring terrestrial microorganisms to the satellite, which could negatively affect its biological ecosystem.
Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber
Turns out NASA has a lot of Star Wars fans. On the 30th anniversary of the release of the first film of the saga, they launched into space the same sword that was used on the filming of the sixth episode. Yes, exactly the model that Luke fought with Darth Vader.
Tesla Roadster
The whole world watched this – in February 2018, while testing the Falcon Heavy rocket, Elon Max launched a sports car into space. Now this Tesla with a dummy driver will hang between Earth and Mars for millions of years until it crashes into one of the planets or is completely destroyed by solar radiation.
💡 Interesting fact: the car flew for some time to the music. It was unlikely that it could be heard at least somewhere, but until the battery was discharged, David Bowie’s track Space Oddity was playing in the electric car.
Pizza from the delivery service
Food delivery reached a new level in 2001. It was then that Pizza Hut sent the juiciest pepperoni to the ISS. The recipe had to be slightly changed and deliberately oversalted pizza, because in space the taste sensations weaken. This is the most expensive pizza delivery in history at $1,000,000.
dimes
In 1961, Gus Harris took 100 10 cents into space with him. Of course, he could not pay with them there, but upon his return he obviously got a lot of original space souvenirs.
Smuggled canned beer
Astronauts are also people who don’t mind relaxing. In 1985, Soviet cosmonaut Grigory Grechko managed to carry several cans of beer onto the STS-51-F spacecraft and successfully deliver them to the ISS. However, it was not possible to drink them – the foam instantly scattered around the station, leaving not a drop in the jar.
space postcards
Apparently, postcards on the theme of space seemed to someone not “space” enough – in 1971, 385 of these were loaded onto Apollo 15 and sent outside the Earth. They were autographed by crew members, and upon their return the postcards were sold. The sale price of each of them was not disclosed.
Source: Trash Box
Johanna Foster is an expert opinion writer with over 7 years of experience. She has a reputation for delivering insightful and thought-provoking articles on a variety of subjects. Her work can be found on some of the top online news websites, and she is currently lending her voice to the world stock market.
