An elegant – and powerful – stoveway is currently on board in SpaceX’s Crew-1 flight, floating freely inside the company’s spacecraft as it heads to the International Space Station. A plush baby yoda – yes, technically a baby – to The Mandlorian SpaceX’s crew can be seen in a live shot from inside the dragon, bobbing inside the cabin and knocking down four crew members on the flight.
The inclusion of Baby Yoda is part of a long tradition in human space travel. The toy is what is known as the “zero G indicator” of flight, a small object used to determine when a spacecraft is in orbit and has reached the microgravity atmosphere. When the crew dragon detached from its Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday, Baby Yoda rose from its perch and became a very squishy piece of debris inside the crew dragon.
Astronauts often choose very beautiful zero G indicators for their travels, adding a little fun to their mission. During SpaceX’s first crew flight in May, NASA astronauts Bob Behanken and Doug Hurley brought with them a stuffed dinosaur named Tremmer, which was taken out by their sons. Other zero G indicators of the past include Plush Earth, nicknamed the “Earth”, which flew in SpaceX’s crew dragon’s first inaugural flight test. When Boeing flew its CST-100 Starliner on a sapphire test flight in 2019, a small snoopy in astronaut outfit was pulled inside.
I’m sure the Crew-1 team decided together on their Zero G indicator, but they probably got some inspiration from a certain space reporter who suggested bringing the force into space with them.
Baby Yoda has a lot of experience flying in space with her Mandlorian space dad, so the baby should be a beautiful member of a crew member. Luckily, Crew Dragon only uses touchscreen controls, which is good because we know how much Baby Yoda loves flipping switches. Hopefully there are no eggs on the crew’s breakfast menu.
