Two ancient ancestors of humans recently made history once again as “postmortem astronauts” after parts of their fossilized skeletons were launched into space.
The fossilized remains of a 2-million-year-old hominin species called Australopithecus sediba and a 250,000-year-old hominin species called Homo naledi were launched into space with Virgin Galactic’s spacecraft VSS Unity on September 8, 2023.
This unusual cargo consisted of the collarbone of Australopithecus and the thumb bone of Homo naledi, stored in a small carbon fiber container. It was then carried to an altitude of approximately 13.7 – 15 kilometers by the VMS Eve mothership, which separated from the VSS Unity spacecraft. From there, VSS Unity used its rocket engine to climb into suborbital space.
The remains were taken aboard by astronaut Tim Nash, a South African-born entrepreneur and conservationist interested in human origins research in Africa. He received the remains, Australopithecus sediba and Homo naledi, from Professor Lee Berger, known for his work in Rising Star Cave.
Professor Lee Berger, Director of the Center for Research on Humanity’s Deep Journey at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, said in a statement: “The journey of these fossils into space represents humanity’s appreciation of the contribution of all our ancestors and ancient relatives. “Without the inventions of technologies such as fire and tools and their contributions to the evolution of the modern human mind, extraordinary endeavors such as space flight would not have been possible,” he said.
These two extinct hominin species are important characters in the human family tree about which we know surprisingly little. The remains of Australopithecus sediba were discovered in Malapa Cave in South Africa’s Cradle of Humanity and date to approximately 1.98 million years ago. Paleontologists believe that this species was able to walk on its legs, but spent a significant amount of its time climbing treetops.
Homo naledi was also the star of the Netflix documentary “Unknown: Cave of Bones.” This species also lived in southern Africa, but shared the same territory much later, around 300,000 years ago. One of the most striking features of this species is that there is evidence that they buried their dead deep within the Rising Star Cave system. This shows that the species has a complex culture and deep emotional intelligence.
“These fossils represent individuals who lived and died hundreds of thousands of years ago, but who probably gazed in wonder at the stars like us,” said Matthew Berger, son of Professor Lee Berger, who helped discover Australopithecus sediba when it was still a child, and added: “They are the ambassadors of all of humanity’s ancestors.” “I don’t think they could ever imagine going on an incredible journey while they were alive.”
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