An Albert Einstein plush toy flew to the International Space Station on Wednesday, serving as a zero-gravity display on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 flight.
Zero gravity indicators describe the task and task assigned to a small object, such as a toy, bear, or other plush, used to understand when the spacecraft has become weightless. These objects are not belted and begin to float in the air when the expected moment of zero gravity comes.
“A few years after he came up with his groundbreaking special theory of relativity, Albert Einstein still had a few unfinished issues on his mind,” said NASA astronaut Josh Cassada, shortly before the Einstein toy did his work. “As he sat in the patent office (because He was not yet famous) … had the happiest thought of his life. This thought was that a person in free fall could not feel his own weight. This thought, along with some others on which he built, gave rise to general relativity and our understanding of gravity and the curvature of space-time. We continually experience Einstein’s happiest thought, as the International Space Station has done for over 20 years.”
"Imagination encircles the world." —Albert Einstein
The zero-gravity indicator for the #Crew5 mission is revealed to be a toy Einstein. It's used to show when the capsule reaches the weightlessness of microgravity as it circles the globe en route to the @Space_Station. pic.twitter.com/wOE7GbWfNA
— NASA (@NASA) October 5, 2022
Zero gravity displays date back to the first human launch into space in 1961, when cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin watched as he picked up a tiny doll and glided through. NASA has embraced this idea and has used many different objects so far, from glowing stuffed dinosaurs to R2-D2 and Baby Yoda.
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