Sparkly Dinosaur Toy Spotted Alongside Astronauts In Elon Musk's SpaceX Rocket

The world watched on yesterday (Saturday) as NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken were launched into orbit on board Elon Musk's SpaceX rocket.

The historic launch marked the first time astronauts have been sent into orbit from US soil since the Space Shuttle was retired - and it was also the first time a dinosaur has been sent to space, as far as I'm aware.

Footage from on board the Crew Dragon craft revealed a small, sequined dinosaur toy floating about the capsule, experiencing zero gravity as Doug and Bob focused on their work.

You might think, given the name of the craft, that the toy is a dragon, but nope, it is definitely a dinosaur. It turns out Doug and Bob both have sons who love dinosaurs and so they let them choose one of their toys to go to space with them - and Tremor, a sparkly apatosaurus, was the winner.

Speaking during a tour of the capsule, Bob said: "That was a super cool thing for us to get a chance to do for both of our sons who I hope are super excited to see their toys floating around with us on board.

"I'm sure they would rather be here, given the opportunity, but hopefully they're proud of this as well."

Shortly after Tremor won the hearts of viewers, the SpaceX website featured a new product called a 'Demo 2 Dinosaur Plush Toy', priced at $25 (£20.25).

However, it is no longer on the site - so either they sold out rapidly, or SpaceX has inexplicably had second thoughts about selling the toys.

SpaceX

This Demo-2 mission is a way of SpaceX showing that it can safely take astronauts to the International Space Station, and get them back in one piece.

It represents the final step on SpaceX's journey to being certified by NASA's Commercial Crew programme for regular flights carrying astronauts to the International Space Centre.

Topics: Viral, World News, space

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey