Baby falcon stuffed toy “Aurora” flies again as SpaceX Crew-9’s zero-G indicator

For the first time, a tradition borrowed from the Russian space program was physically carried over to an American spacecraft.

of “Zero Gram [gravity] We have launched an indicator Aboard SpaceX’s Crew 9 mission to the International Space Station on Saturday (September 28), two Russian Soyuz capsules previously flew, one of which survived an emergency stop mid-flight. .

Nick Haig, a NASA astronaut and Crew-9 commander, revealed a small stuffed falcon in the crew compartment of SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, Freedom, and said, “Here’s a little stuffed falcon.” There’s someone there,” he said.

Hague and Roscosmos mission specialist Alexander Gorbunov had just entered orbit after a nine-minute ride aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 two-stage rocket. This was evident from the toy falcon floating on the end of the tether. g indicator. ”

“I like the fact that it has Falcon 9. [launched] Crew 9 and we have a peregrine falcon on board,” Haig said. “However, this is a multi-flyer. It was my first flight with Alexi [Ovchinin] And me and Alexei, me and Christina [Koch]. So say hello to “Aurora”. ”

The Hague’s first attempt to fly to the International Space Station lasted about three minutes For flights in October 2018 when the Russian Soyuz FG rocket he and Ovchinin (and Aurora) were on failed. Launch escape tower pulled them Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft Release them from the booster and loosen them to make a suborbital landing.

Five months later, Hague, Ovchinin and Aurora took off again. This time Soyuz MS-12successfully arrived at the space station.

Hague’s (and Aurora’s) third launch and Saturday’s second spaceflight went similarly well and even made history. Crew-9’s launch marked the first manned space flight from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. All previous manned Dragon flights have taken off from nearby Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

Hague also became the first active-duty U.S. Space Force member to fly from a Space Force launch pad.

Hague and Aurora will be reunited with Ovchinin when they arrive at the station on Sunday. Russian cosmonauts arrive at the orbital complex About Soyuz MS-26 Earlier this month, he will begin his mission in The Hague for the next five months as part of the ISS Expedition 72 crew.

Hague and Gorbunov will then return to Earth. About “freedom” NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who were launched to the space station on Boeing’s Starliner crew test flight in June. Because of safety concerns caused by Starliner’s technical problems, NASA reassigned Wilmore and Williams to fly home on the Dragon. On September 6th, Boeing’s capsule “Calypso” Safe but unmanned touchdown.

This change reduced Crew-9’s launch crew by two people. NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson were removed from the flight, and Wilmore and Williams were given seats for the return trip.

“I especially love the history this zero-gravity indicator brings to Nick, and I’m sure Alexei will be happy to see him again.” [it] Similarly,” said Cardman, who participated in NASA’s launch coverage.[They’re] It’s about getting the band back together. ”

Aurora is a beanbag-shaped stuffed falcon sold under the name “Swoop” by Puffkins (Swibco). This toy was first produced in 1994 and is no longer in production.

The idea of ​​flying with a zero-gravity meter can be traced back to the first manned spaceflight by Soviet-era cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. He loaded a small doll into the Vostok spacecraft in 1961 so that it could be seen floating as it completed its orbit around the Earth. The same doll was flown to the Mir space station in 1991 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Gagarin’s flight.

Other Soyuz captains also re-flew their zero-G indicators. Alexander Skvortsov, who took part in three flights to the space station before retiring, chose the same toy duck each time. Similarly, Fyodor Yurchychkin made four launches using the same white puppy given to him by his high school teacher in 1976.

Haag became the first American astronaut to re-flight a zero-gravity meter since the zero-gravity tradition began on U.S. space flights in 2019. Suhail, the mascot of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) astronaut program, was also installed on Soyuz and Dragon. But by two different Emirati crews, and two dolls with different designs.