It’s a long journey to the moon and a moment of achievement for any human soul. Over the years astronauts have been making this journey memorable by taking the lucky charms, personal belongings that are special, travel essentials and keepsakes along. But there are some strange personal things also that astronauts leave behind on the lunar land.
Recently USA sent SpaceX Falcon 9 on a historic journey and the crew members carried a totem that sounds like a child’s fantasy. And indeed it was! The crew members have taken toy dinosaurus along on the behest of their sons.
Though most of the astronauts like to take personal photos or belongings as a memento to leave behind of the land of the moon, there are some weird things they had taken too and you will be surprised to know what all is hanging up there on the moon’s surface.
Chalice, wine and bread
According to The Guardian, ‘when Apollo 11’s Eagle lunar module landed on the moon on 20 July 1969, devout Christian Buzz Aldrin had with him a miniature chalice, wine and bread. Shortly before Neil Armstrong stepped out onto the lunar landscape – and unreported by Nasa – Aldrin requested a moment’s silence and read from the book of John. The first time liquid was poured on the moon was in an act of communion.’
Family photo
On the Apollo 16 mission in 1972, Charles Duke left his family photo behind on the moon’s surface along with a handwritten message for future invasions. But we don’t know how long that would exist because solar radiation would eventually bleach out the picture, like it happens on earth too.
Golf club and balls
The iconic movement and pictures of astronaut and golfer Alan Sheperd playing golf on the moon’s surface will always remain in our memories. He took his club and two balls to enjoy a strike on a surface that has only a sixth of Earth’s gravity. “Miles and miles and miles,” he declared as he watched the second shot sail away on its long arc across the lunar surface.
Messages from world leaders
Apollo 11 has reportedly left behind about 106 objects on the moon’s surface. One of them is also a silicon disk inscribed with comments from the world leaders of 74 countries. The disc also has the words of then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
The golden olive branch
Apollo 11 left behind a golden olive branch as a millennia old emblem of peace.
Astronaut poop
As per Space.com, Apollo 11 left behind four urine collection assemblies and four emesis bags. “That’s really the opposite end of the spectrum to these carefully chosen and carefully placed objects, it’s literally the bag of poo just flung out of the spacecraft,” Gorman said. “But in some ways, it encodes as much, if not more, information because human body residues are rich in information about the diet of those astronauts in space and the effect on their bodies.”
As seen on timesofindia Image Credits timesofindia
