Outside of Earth’s ‘shell,’ SpaceX’s Crew-3 reveal turtle as zero-g indicator
The “turtle-takeover” of outer space has begun.
Just moments after entering Earth orbit on Wednesday (Nov. 10), SpaceX Crew-3 astronaut Kayla Barron released a sparkling sea turtle to float above her head. The “zero-g indicator,” a doll used to show that she and her three crewmates’ were in the microgravity environment of space, was also a signal that “The Turtles” had arrived.
“We do have a few things in store … for representing our class in space,” Barron said in a pre-flight interview with collectSPACE.com. “We are really excited about the upcoming Turtle-takeover of the space station.”
Barron and her Crew-3 commander, Raja Chari, are both “Turtles,” or members of NASA’s 22nd class of astronauts selected in 2017. Following a long-standing tradition, the nickname was chosen by the preceding astronaut class as a good-natured rub that the 12 then-new recruits were a tad green around the collar, a bit shell-shocked at being selected and, given the effects of a hurricane at the time, faced having their new homes submerged underwater just as they arrived at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
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Now, as the first members of their class to launch into space, Barron and Chari were proud to let their Turtle “flag” fly.
“We have got some decorations to take along with us,” Chari told collectSPACE earlier this year, possibly referencing the then-still-secret zero-g indicator. “Definitely some references to turtles that I think we’ll see, once we get up.”
Update: During a downlink from the Crew Dragon “Endurance,” Barron introduced her and her crewmates zero-g indicator: “We want to introduce our zero-g indicator, ‘Pfau’ — that’s German for ‘peacock.’ We chose Pfau to be our zero-g indicator because Raj and I are both from the class called “The Turtles,” and we’re excited to represent our class in space. Tom [Marshburn] is a ‘Peacock,’ so to get everybody on board we picked a peacock turtle — you’ll notice she’s peacock colored — and we named her Pfau, which is German for peacock,” said Barron. “The Peacocks” was the nickname for NASA’s 19th astronaut class selected in 2004. The choice of German is a nod to Crew-3’s fourth member, Matthias Maurer of the European Space Agency.
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The plush sea turtle appeared to be “Emerald Tara Turtle,” an 11-inch-long (28-cm) doll produced by Aurora World as part of its “Sea Sparkles” line. The toy’s soft shell is lined in sequins that when reversed change color from green to silver.
The doll quickly sold out online within minutes of Barron revealing it in space. Aurora World’s web page describing the plush turtle was removed from its catalog, seemingly confirming the identification. A similar toy, featuring rainbow, rather than green sequins also sold out.
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