If when tourists pass by a famous place they forget their sunglasses, candy wrappers or soda cans, imagine what astronauts can forget when they travel outside of Earth. Some of the things they have left in space are absolutely crazy, so don’t miss this list where we review the best ones.
It has been decades since humanity began traveling off the planet. Over time, many astronauts have forgotten things, while others have made the decision to voluntarily leave them abandoned in places like the Moon. But which ones are the craziest?
Three LEGO figures
There are LEGO figurines everywhere, even in space. In this case, the figurines have been orbiting Jupiter since 2016 and are expected to continue doing so until next year 2025. These LEGO characters correspond to the astronomer Galileo Galilei, the god Jupiter and his wife, Juno. The intention with leaving the three LEGO dolls orbiting was to get children more interested in astronomy, but it cannot be said that it is not a curious initiative for adults as well.
The bad news is that, in 2025, when their journey in Jupiter’s orbit ends, they are scheduled to launch into the planet’s atmosphere, marking their farewell.
A large amount of poop
It’s reasonable. Because astronauts have to eliminate waste and, of course, they defecate. Furthermore, all this waste has a considerable weight, so it is vital to get rid of it so that the ships do not end up suffering the consequences of that pile of excrement.
Records indicate that, throughout the various Apollo missions to the Moon, almost 100 bags of organic waste were filled. But the astronauts participating in these missions were trained to act. Thus, every time they left the ship to take a walk on the Moon, they took the bags they had accumulated just as you take out the trash the day the truck passes by. The only difference is that, on the Moon, there is no service that collects garbage. Therefore, all the excrement bags are still where the astronauts left them.
There are studies that even explore the possibilities that the microbes that were in the poop bags have survived the years. What if that ended up being the starting point of life on the Moon? Who knows what could happen to bacteria and microbes that humans left in their wake!
golf balls
Would it occur to an astronaut who has reached the Moon to play golf in the absence of gravity? Definitely! That is something that the now legendary Alan Shepard did, who did not hesitate to enjoy his favorite hobby, taking advantage of the enormous golf course he had all to himself.
In theory he hit two golf balls that ended up remaining on the surface of the Moon. One of them is believed to have gone really far and may have been traveling due to the blow for a long period of time, although a 2021 study made it clear that it had only advanced a few meters. The video above these lines immortalizes precisely that moment when Shepard played golf on the Moon.
Various floating objects
Astronauts are trained not to leave abandoned objects floating, as they could pose a risk on future missions. In any case, there are times when small mistakes are made that cause those objects to end up floating there. This is what is known to have happened to a kitchen spatula and a glove, although there could be more objects from other missions from different nations, so who knows what could be floating around.
A sample of humanity
They are defined as the “golden records” and are disks of sound and image that are loaded with a representation of what human society means. The goal is that any possible extraterrestrial civilization can get to know us a little better in case they find these disks at some point. There are two different ones and they are made up of a selection of very special content, such as classic sounds of human culture that define our way of living.
It includes the sound of waves crashing on the beach, babies crying, and greetings in more than 50 different languages from our planet. There are also songs that review some of the most important musical themes in history, bringing together artists such as Chuck Berry or Mozart, among others. These capsules that summarize the history of the Earth passed by Pluto decades ago and calculations estimate that it will still take 40,000 years to reach another planetary system.
Therefore, it is unknown if they will ever reach the hands of an extraterrestrial civilization that may be surprised to discover that there is an intelligent society far beyond their world. The initiative was born from the hand of the legendary Carl Sagan.
Other abandoned or forgotten things
Everything we have told you is only a part of what humanity has left in the universe in its different missions in space. There are also other objects that have been left, in part, voluntarily. For example, one mission carried the ashes of Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek. And, on the surface of the Moon, there is a small sample of some of the most notable works of art from the era in which it was sent, the 70s. So, it includes drawings by artists like Andy Warhol who, who knows, maybe other civilizations end up seeing at some point.
