Published 20:14 IST, June 1st 2020

SpaceX Nasa launch: Why was a Ty Flippable dinosaur toy aboard the Crew Dragon?

SpaceX-NASA launch: A Ty Flippable dinosaur toy was seen floating with the astronauts. What was the significance of the dinosaur toy on board?

Reported by: Disha Kandpal
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Elon Musk's X became first private company in world to launch a rocket carrying humans into on May 30, 2020. Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken, two veteran NASA astronauts boarded X’s Crew Dragon Capsule.  launch commenced at 3:22 EST and astronauts embarked on a landmark 19-hour journey towards ISS. But many viewers ticed that re was an extra passenger on board in X-NASA launch, a tiny sequinned stuffed disaur plush toy.

During live brocast of X-NASA launch and journey ahe, toy was spotted floating around in capsule. video emerged on Twitter and many users have been sharing it since n. toy disaur on X Dragon capsule became an instant hit among netizens.

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toy was later identified as a Ty Flippable Tremor Disaur. "Was that a that a sequin stuffed disaur I just saw floating by camera?" one user wrote, ding "It was so unexpected. I laughed so hard.”

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Why was Ty Flippable disaur toy on board in X-NASA launch?

According to a techlogy website, purpose of disaur toy was to act as a 'zero-g indicator'. Similar toys have been flown with astronauts for years w. When se toys begin floating, it signals that crew members have reached zero gravity. 

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This time Ty disaur tremor toy was chosen to accompany astronauts for a special reason. NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley have a son each, and in one of videos on NASA's YouTube channel, y said that both ir boys are disaur enthusiasts. boys put all ir disaur toys toger before launch and finally, a sparkly Apatosaurus was chosen to accompany ir fars into . 

astronauts have expressed that ir sons would be excited to see ir di toy floating around in zero gravity. In 2013, Karen Nyberg, astronaut Hurley’s wife h sewn a stuffed disaur for her son while she was still aboard ISS and h sent him photos of floating toy. This could be a reason for choosing disaur. During a launch in 2019, Elon Musk h put an Earth-shaped plush toy on a test flight of Crew Dragon, he called it a "super high tech zero-g indicator”.

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Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley entered International Station on Sunday, May 31, 2020. y were welcomed by ir fellow US astronaut Chris Cassidy, as well as cosmonauts Anatoli Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner. y wore ir signature blue jumpsuits on station while Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley wore navy blue t-shirts with beige trousers underneath ir suits during ir travel.

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20:13 IST, June 1st 2020