Random Geekiest Things Sent Into Space (9 items)

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  (#6) Bird Droppings

  This is geeky because it falls in that same kind of Revenge of the Nerds clumsiness we expect from any kind of social hermit, so technically this might be a little more "nerdy." Nonetheless, this is pretty interesting and will allow you a get out of jail free card with people who don't respect you.

  The space shuttle Discovery sported some white guano spatters three weeks prior to liftoff, and despite regular Florida thunderstorms, they were still there upon takeoff... and were still there when the shuttle returned.

  During launch, the shuttle was sprayed with 300,000 gallons of water and the craft accelerated from zero to 17,500 mph in just under nine minutes. Despite such a voyage, the shuttle was still sporting the white blotches on the aircraft as it blasted into space.

   
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  (#7) Android Phone

  A true science geek proposed The "Astdroid" project. This man's name was Danny Pier. The Astdroid Project was a venture to send an Android smartphone into space. In 2010, Danny, a then 25-year-old self-proclaimed computer nerd, was confident he could create a weather balloon with an HTC Evo (running the Android OS) to track its journey into space with its camera, transmitter, computing power, and GPS technology.

   
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  (#9) Salmonella

  Awesome nerdy scientists created what can only be described as the WORST THING EVER. These Kilowog-looking bacteria are actually super-charged, super-powered Salmonella, out to destroy the Earth. This is the closest that we've come to a Fantastic Four effect so far. If all of this meant nothing to you, basically it means these purple and green things came back from space super-powered (by which we mean "more potent").

  In September 2006, a space shuttle blasted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center with tubes containing Salmonella typhimurium to see how space travel affected germs.

  Upon return, after feeding the space germs to mice, scientists found that the microbes turned into super-bugs and became stronger and more deadly than ever. The mice were more likely to get sick and died quicker than others that were fed the identical germs that remained on Earth. They discovered that the genetic behavior had altered and became three times more potent. They were also more virulent and resistant to high temperatures, acidic conditions and white blood cells.

   
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  (#5) Inflatable Space Station

  It seems that anyone can get in on the space "game" nowadays, provided they have enough money to throw at it. In July 2006, space entrepreneur Robert Bigelow and his team at Bigelow Aerospace of Las Vegas successfully launched their pathfinder mission: Genesis I. The project centers on the implementation of Earth-orbiting inflatable modules. These habitable structures are designed to serve as lodgings for tourists, but also bases for research and manufacturing.
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  (#8) Sea Urchins

  Scientists have fired a lot of strange creatures up into space in the quest for knowledge and enlightenment and today, almost all shuttle missions carry rats, mice, flies, and even jellyfish for scientific experiments. As early as 1948, the US launched its first primate into space, but it wasn’t until 1957 when the Russian dog named Laika became the first animal to orbit the Earth on board Sputnik II.

  Since then a whole menagerie of creatures has gone supersonic including guinea pigs, frogs, snails, tortoise, spiders and cockroaches. In the 1990s, 11,200 baby sea urchins were aboard space shuttle Columbia for some top secret testing. Scientists were interested in how animals develop and behave during the research mission.
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  (#1) Luke Skywalker's Lightsaber

  As an homage to the 1977 classic sci-fi film Star Wars, NASA took the lightsaber that Luke Skywalker himself (Mark Hamill) used to fight the Dark Side and shot it into space as part of the 30th anniversary celebration for the first Star Wars film.

  In fact, the Jedi weapon was personally sent off in the presence of Chewbacca himself. "It might not be going to a galaxy far, far away, but it's still a six million-mile journey, and that's pretty cool," said Doug Mattice of Space Centre Houston, NASA's visitor complex.

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