Inside story about manned space flight and cargo | Gizmodo Japan facebook Twitter Youtube RSS Facebook Twitter YouTube GIZMODO FUZE

Did you know that astronauts can bring as much of their desired items as they can when they embark on a space journey? Items called Official Flight Kit (OFK).

In each mission, various things are experiencing space travel. For example, in October 2007, on the STS-120 challenged by Spacecraft Discovery, 102 OFKs traveled to the International Space Station for two weeks. 76 of them are the crew's personal belongings. Each crew member can bring in 1 kg of personal items.

At that time, Captain Pam Melroy brought the banner of his nephew's school district and her university, and mission specialist Doug Wheeler with the uniform of major leaguer Bobby Murcer, who had been familiar with brain tumors since childhood. He took the baseball card to space and then gave it to Bobby Murcer. Many memorable items brought in by other crew members were also handed out with gratitude to those who helped the crew members.

Meanwhile, the OFK of this STS-120 contained one slightly unusual item. It's the lightsaber that Luke Skywalker actually used to shoot "Star Wars Episode 6 / Return of the Jedi"! George Lucas asked him to take him to space to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Wars, and he realized it.

By the way, using the loaded lightsaber, no one would try to become a Luke, and like other OFKs, he spent all his time in space in a styrofoam box.

Space flight is associated with advertising partners. For example, Life magazine allowed exclusive coverage of astronauts Original Seven and their wives selected for the first manned spaceflight Mercury project. In return, Life magazine offered a huge amount of life insurance premiums to astronauts.

When Apollo 11 landed on the moon in July 1969, 94% of television was on in the United States. That is an opportunity for companies to appeal to themselves. The sponsor, who had something to do with Apollo 11's landing on the moon, carefully prepared promotional materials, printed the flight logo on the product, and considered a catch phrase. For example, US tongue is "a drink for astronauts and their families," and Omega is "a watch worn by astronauts on the moon."

Coca-Cola has spent $ 250,000 to develop a Coca-Cola that can handle weightless environments. During development, not only the container but also the Coca-Cola recipe itself was made space-specific. In the weightless state of the universe, liquid and gas are mixed in the stomach, so belching does not occur and the stomach remains bloated. That's why Coca-Cola needed to improve that point to space specifications. Pepsi also learned that NASA would put a Coca-Cola dispenser on the Space Shuttle and spent $ 14 million to develop a Pepsi space can.

Then the space cola war began, with Coca-Cola becoming a Democrat's favorite drink and Pepsi becoming a Republican's favorite drink.

In 1985, four cans of cola each eventually accompanied the Space Shuttle Challenger on its orbital journey. When the five crew members drank and compared during the mission, it was said that both Coca-Cola and Pepsi were bad. Still, it is catchy that it was drunk in space, so Pepsi continued to use the catch phrase, "It became a big bite for humankind."

In Russia, in 2000, Pizza Hut became a sponsor to spread the image of a modern and international company, and put a 9-meter logo on an unmanned proton rocket heading to the International Space Station. The following year, a 15-centimeter space pizza was delivered to the International Space Station crew. The toppings are salami and cheese. It seems that salami was chosen because pepperoni grows mold by the time it is eaten in space. Astronaut Yuri Usachov was pleased with his thumbs up when he grabbed a microwave-cooked pizza. I'd like to have cola to accompany the pizza, but what did Mr. Yuri drink?

This is the TP-82 triple barrel gun that astronauts accompany to protect themselves in space missions from the Soviet era to Russia. It seems that it is also possible to attach a blade like Nata. Protecting yourself does not mean that aliens will invade you. The enemies are Siberian wolves and musk deers. The equipment was learned from the mission of Voskhod 2 (Voskhod 2), which had various troubles until returning and crash landed in the forest of Siberia.

I don't have the image of bringing in something private because the trip to space is carefully planned, but it's allowed to some extent. What would you bring with you to the universe?

Steve Wynalda-Gizmodo US [Original]

(Junjun)