The first commercial rocket carrying packages to the Moon has successfully taken off. The carrier DHL has placed its “MoonPods”, packages with often very surprising contents.
At exactly 2:18 a.m. this morning of January 8, 2024, or 8:18 a.m. here, the lunar landing module Peregrine Mission One of the company Astrobotics successfully took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Embarked on board a ULA Vulkan rocket (United Launch Alliance), it could become the world’s first commercial lander if it arrives on lunar soil safely on the scheduled date of February 23. But it is not the vessel that interests us here, rather what it contains.
The letter and parcel carrier DHL has in fact joined the event to send a “MoonBox” to the Moon. Inside, “MoonPods” which are none other than parcels sent by individuals. “This partnership has enabled individuals to preserve their memories on the moon forever thanks to the DHL MoonBox, a special capsule developed by DHL. With this partnership, we want to make the moon accessible to everyone,” explains a spokesperson for the German company. But what do these packages contain? Some senders were willing to say so.
DHL delivers its first packages to the Moon, what they contain is quite improbable
Richard Gariott, son of the astronaut of the NASA Owen Garriot and himself a former passenger of the ISS, the international space station, wanted to pay tribute to his father. “When I first heard about this opportunity, I immediately knew I wanted to send a time capsule letter, both as a tribute to my recently deceased father, but also as a dedication to my children”. A social network user RedditAdam Brodin, also sent writings, but not his own. The Internet user asked members of the platform to write their messages and selected the best.
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More unusual, one of the MoonPods contains a Physical Dogecointhis cryptocurrency whose value Elon Musk had increased in early 2023. In another, a piece of Everest, the highest mountain in the world. In total, more than 150 packages are flying to the Moon. If you feel like it, registrations for the second wave of shipments are already open on the Astrobotic website. It will cost you between $460 and $25,800depending on the size of the item, to which are of course added the shipping costs.
Source: collectSPACE