Two ancient human ancestors have achieved the improbable accomplishment of becoming " post - mortem astronauts " after part of their fossilized skeleton were blast into space late last hebdomad .
Fossilized stay of a 2 - million - year - honest-to-god hominin species calledAustralopithecus sedibaand a 250,000 - year - onetime coinage namedHomo nalediwere launched on Virgin Galactic ’s starship , VSS Unity , on September 8 , 2023 .
The strange shipment was made up of a collar osseous tissue go to theAustralopithecusand a thumb os ofHomo naledi , which were store in a small atomic number 6 roughage container . They were lifted to an EL of around 13.7 - 15 kilometers ( 45,000 - 50,000 feet ) by the VMS Eve mothership , which then separated from the VSS Unity spaceship . From here , the VSS Unity used its Eruca vesicaria sativa engine to climb to subocular space .
Homo naledi skeletal remains, made up of a composite of elements that represent multiple individuals.Image credit: Lee Roger Berger research team viaWikimedia Commons(CC BY 4.0)
The remains were taken onboard by ( sustenance ) astronautTim Nash , a South Africa - born entrepreneur and environmentalist who ’s been involved with human origin research in Africa . He pick up the remains from Professor Lee Berger , known for discoveringAustralopithecus sedibaand hiswork at the Rising Star CaveonHomo naledi .
“ The journey of these fogey into space represent humanity ’s appreciation of the contribution of all of humanity ’s ancestors and our ancient relatives . Without their conception of technologies such as flack and tools , and their donation to the evolution of the contemporary human thinker , such sinful endeavour as space travel would not have take place , ” Professor Lee Berger , Director of the Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa , said in astatement .
These two out hominin mintage are authoritative graphic symbol in the human family Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , which we know surprisingly short about .
The remains ofAustralopithecus sedibawere pick up in the Malapa Cave of South Africa ’s Cradle of Humankind and date to around 1.98 million years ago . This specie is significant as it score a unmortgaged step away from the “ ape - like ” features of older relative and towards the features that defined theHomogenus . be this point , palaeontologists trust this metal money was adequate to of walk on feet , but it also pass substantial time climbing Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree .
Homo nalediare the whiz of the Netflix documentaryUnknown : Cave of Bones . They also live in southern Africa , but much subsequently at a point around 300,000 years ago . One of the most noteworthy features of this species is that there ’s grounds to suggest they buried their numb late within the Rising Star Cave organization . If dead on target , it would designate that this small - brained species had developed a complex acculturation and deep emotional intelligence service .
As clearly sensitive beings , perhaps they looked up at the whizz some nights , wondering what might be out there .
“ These dodo represent individuals who live and died hundreds of G of years ago , yet were somebody who likely gazed up at the stars in wonder , much as we do , ” added Matthew Berger , the son of Professor Lee Berger who avail to make the discovery ofAustralopithecus sedibawhen he was just a child .
“ I think they never could have dream while alive of take such an incredible journey as ambassadors of all of human beings ’s ancestors . ”
