The fossilized bones of two ancient human ancestors were aboard Virgin Galactic's third commercial spaceflight in a celebration of discovery.
Nash purchased the land to create a private nature preserve and says he’s so committed to protecting the sites where humans’ earliest ancestors lie that he has a tattoo of “Karabo,” the boy whose clavicle he’ll carry to space, on his shoulder.
He has another tattoo too: the Virgin Galactic logo. Nash was among the first hundred investors in the company, and patiently waited his turn to breach the atmosphere in an hour-long commercial spaceflight taking him, and the fossils, to Mach 3 speed and suborbital space.juvenile male was discovered in the South African cave site of Malapa in 2008. A section of clavicle was chosen to fly aboard the Virgin Galactic mission. Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.
For Nash, the thought of viewing both Earth and the blackness of space has prompted reflections on how far humanity has come. “I think it’s going to be the experience of a lifetime,” he toldbefore the journey. As for the danger of taking one-of-a-kind fossils to suborbit with commercial spaceflight still in its infancy, he says it’s worth the risk. “These are only a very small part of the fossil record, and they have been very well studied. Exploring involves risks.
Still, just to be safe, he planned to transport the fossils in a carbon fiber tube that Berger would watch over until a ceremony shortly after takeoff. “They are two of the best studied, best replicated things in our collections,” says Berger, who cites the abundant documentation of the fossils as one reason they were selected for the spaceflight.clavicle because it is the one Berger’s then-9-year-old son discovered, uncovering a previously unknown hominid species. “I want kids to know there are things you can discover and that children can contribute enormously,” he says.
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