When SpaceX launched its sixth check flight of Starship on Tuesday, it included a payload for the primary time—a toy banana. Now, you should purchase your individual plush toy banana on the SpaceX web site.
However whereas the SpaceX store has loads of vacation items obtainable, together with the same old suspects (hats, T-shirts, water bottles, a $400 chrome Starship mannequin, and a $175 Starship torch), the banana ($30) will not be shipped till subsequent yr.
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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is thought for promoting uncommon objects on his different firm’s web sites (Tesla has bought a cardboard Cybertruck cat litter field, brief shorts, and fragrance). The toy banana is one thing new, although it does have main significance for the corporate.
“Bananas have been used for fast visible comparisons for fairly a while and our teammates thought it was time to carry the honored yellow fruit to Starship,” stated Kate Tice, a top quality engineering supervisor at SpaceX in a press release. “Right this moment, we’re flying Starship’s first-ever bodily payload, which is, as you might need guessed, a banana.”
The primary bodily Starship payload is a banana ?? pic.twitter.com/xvjV4JSxhg
— Gav Cornwell (@SpaceOffshore) November 19, 2024
In response to Area.com, the toy banana was “a stand-in for gaining the federal government’s approval” for future Starship flights.
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“You’ll be able to see our stuffed banana payload, which is doubling as right now’s zero gravity or zero-g indicator,” Tice stated. “And whereas this payload will stay contained in the automobile always and won’t be deployed right now, it did give us an opportunity to do a check run of payload approval processes with the FAA, and that is one thing that we’re hoping to do subsequent yr if we begin flying our first Starlink satellites on Starship. Godspeed, banana.”
One toy banana prices $30 and can be delivered in March. The corporate says it is roughly 8 inches lengthy, or about 1/247 of Starship (1,982″ tall). You should buy a single banana or a complete bunch (and different items, right here).
Right this moment’s Starship flight check has a particular payload onboard – a banana! This universally-accepted measurement of scale is roughly the scale of 1 Starlink Mini ? pic.twitter.com/5ZuoIt3EbB
— Starlink (@Starlink) November 19, 2024