Ever since humans first looked up at the heavens, we have hungered to reach them. Now that we actually have the ability to reach space routinely, we obviously need to take some of our strange personal effects along with us, or even eject them into space ahead of us. From an entire car to racy pin-up photos to special space-salami pizza, along with sadder items like human remains and personal mementos, some truly strange objects have been launched or carried with humans into the heavens. Read on for a list of 25 of the most bizarre things that have visited space.
1. A Disco Ball
In a feel-good launch, Rocket Lab, an American space start-up, sent a giant disco ball into space carried by a rocket launched off the shores of New Zealand. The giant, person-sized disco ball was branded the “Humanity Star” by Rocket Lab’s CEO and was meant to be an observable piece of humanity in the night sky that all could share.
Rocket Lab was secretive about the launch, leaving satellite watchers wondering what additional item was reflecting light in the sky. The Humanity Star was crafted from carbon fibers that created 65 highly reflective glass-like panels. The Humanity Star, which was launched in 2018, unfortunately, has already returned to earth.
2. A Car
Imagine being an engineer for space launch and having your boss ask that you include an entire car in your payload calculations. Thanks, Elon. That was precisely the situation faced by SpaceX engineers in 2018 when the Falcon Heavy launch project used an entire Tesla Roadster as its dummy payload for launch.
The car is now in heliocentric orbit, meaning it orbits the sun, and it also crosses periodically into Mars’ orbit. The vehicle, which initially belonged to Musk and was used to drive to work, is the only production car in space. Of course, with Musk’s sense of advertising and humor, the car didn’t go into space alone.
Read more: science sensei
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