SpaceX Crew-1 Astronauts Used Baby Yoda For A Zero-G Indicator

Many science fiction and Star Wars fans would completely agree with us that The Mandalorian is the best thing to happen in the Star Wars universe in years. While Mando is certainly a draw, many people like "The Child" or Baby Yoda as he tends to be called just as much. Interestingly, the astronauts aboard the historic SpaceX Crew-1 mission secretly took a plush Baby Yoda into space with them.

The crew aboard the Resilience capsule launched last weekend and released the plush toy that had been secretly aboard the spacecraft once they were in orbit. It floated around the cabin in zero-G. The point of having Baby Yoda aboard the spacecraft was to show people watching the mission online that the astronauts had begun experiencing microgravity during their 27 hour trip to the ISS. The astronauts aboard Crew-1 certainly aren't the first to use zero-G indicators.

SpaceX astronauts on Demo-2 used a plush dinosaur called Tremor as their zero-G indicator. On that mission, the dinosaur was chosen by the sons of astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. Astronauts aboard Crew-1 chose Baby Yoda themselves.

The astronauts said it had been a tough year, and the fact that NASA and SpaceX were able to get the spacecraft ready to go and the rocket ready despite the pandemic and difficulties 2020 has brought against everybody was an inspiration. Mission commander Mike Hopkins says that he thought when everybody saw Baby Yoda, it would be hard not to smile and that it seemed appropriate.

Hopkins says that that Baby Yoda seemed appropriate for the crew as well. He says that they like to have fun and that they had been having a lot of fun. Hopkins did say that the ascent into space was rougher than what Baby Yoda was used to riding in.