This past Sunday marked the second ever manned flight of a SpaceX spacecraft! The launch carried astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and Soichi Noguchi to the International Space Station. While the team was en route, a live stream revealed another passenger aboard the craft, Baby Yoda from The Mandalorian!
Or at least a plush version of him! Astronauts regularly take small toys up with them on trips into space to act as zero-gravity indicators, a way to tell when the spacecraft has reached Earth’s orbit and a microgravity environment. This time Baby Yoda got to come along for the trip! When the Falcon 9 rocket reached orbit, Baby Yoda rose from his perch and began to float around the cabin! Small toys are very popular as zero gravity indicators because they are small and soft and therefore unlikely to hurt anyone under sudden acceleration, as well as making the crew of the ship happy! Other famous indicators include Earthy the plush Earth and Tremor the dinosaur.
Baby Yoda will be spending the next six months aboard the International Space Station with the crew while they conduct research. Thankfully the devices up there are mainly touchscreens, we all know how much Baby Yoda loves to play with switches. Plus he has a lot of experience with being in space as he travels a lot with Mando, an excellent choice if you ask me!
Fun Fact: Did you know that it takes 27 hours to get from Earth’s surface to the International Space Station?
Sources
- https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/16/us/baby-yoda-astronaut-trnd-scn/index.html
- https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/16/21569387/spacex-crew-1-dragon-baby-yoda-zero-g-indicator

MAYA OEVERMAN
I am a Senior at City and I normally write the weekly book reviews! If I'm not reading, you can usually find me at the barn riding and taking care of the horses.