Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley had some company on their way to space today: a stuffed dinosaur tucked into one of the seats on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.
Meet Tremor, the sparkly dino, who accompanies astronauts and giving zero-gravity indicators
Astronaut Behnken and Hurley each have a son, and both boys are dinosaur enthusiasts. Before launch, Tremor, a sparkly apatosaurus, was selected by the astronauts' sons to accompany Behnken and Hurley to space. “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,” Behnken said during an tour of the capsule in orbit. “I’m sure they would rather be here, given the opportunity, but hopefully they’re proud of this as well.”
Toys like this have flown with astronauts and cosmonauts for years. When the toy starts floating, it indicates to the buckled-in passengers that they’ve reached zero-g and are experiencing weightlessness. A plush Earth flew on the uncrewed test flight of Crew Dragon to the ISS back in March 2019. Just before launch, SpaceX’s store featured a new item called a ‘Demo 2 Dinosaur Plush Toy’ for $25.
Tremor, the sparkly dino, is available for purchase on SpaceX website.
Behnken, Hurley, and Tremor the plush dinosaur are expected to reach the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday.
