Strange Things We Left in Space: Discover what we left behind

Humans are making major discoveries in space, such as the mineral composition of white dwarfs or the high concentration of manganese in Martian sediments.

Between the two discoveries, astronauts also voluntarily or forcibly leave behind unusual objects. This “cosmic chaos” in space has actually grown because the Moon, for example, serves as a waste storage facility for astronauts.

Human waste on the moon

In an environment as unique as space, where every extra gram can impact the mission, NASA requires astronauts to deposit waste there.

This is how astronauts' human feces currently remain on the moon's surface. Human waste from the Apollo moon landings was collected in specially designed bags and was never returned to Earth.

In total, 96 bags of human waste have already been stored on the Moon. It arouses the curiosity of scholars who want to study its content. More specifically, they would like to see how microbes cope in such hostile conditions.

LEGO figures, golf balls and other unusual objects abandoned in space

Unusual objects such as each other were also left in space. We're thinking in particular of the three LEGO figurines aboard NASA's Juno spacecraft.

It holds many cultural and historical artifacts. The three LEGO figures represent Galileo, Juno and Jupiter. However, it was not made of colorful plastic like the usual figurines, but rather of aluminum. It is also protected by a thermal blanket.

Although the LEGO characters are amazing, they won't be able to escape their tragic fate. In fact, the Juno mission should end in September 2025. After that, the spacecraft will dive into Juno's atmosphere.

In 1971, astronaut Alan Shepard, the oldest person to walk on the moon, had the idea of ​​playing golf on our natural satellite. Using an improvised golf club, he hit two golf balls on the moon. These are still there today.

Another unusual object abandoned in space is a kitchen spoon. But this was not voluntary. It was owned by astronaut Pierce Sellers who used it to repair the heat shields of his spacecraft.

Pierce Sellers was using an ordinary kitchen spoon until he lost it in the vacuum of space.

Human ashes were also scattered into space

To close this list of the strangest things left in space, it is impossible not to mention the ashes of Gene Roddenberry. The creator of the science fiction universe Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, died in 1991 at the age of 70.

Part of his remains were sent into orbit on a commercial lunar mission in cooperation with NASA. Astrobotic wanted to test a lunar landing module that could be used in the future to deliver orders to the moon.

However, Gene Roddenberry's ashes did not arrive safely. Due to technical problems, the ash disappeared into space forever. An actual bitcoin and a piece of Mount Everest that were also part of this first delivery were also lost.

source : Discover Magazine