They say a penny doesn't go far these days, to which NASA has now added its two cents.
Two pennies lifted off for the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday (Aug. 4), on a mission that will ultimately log millions of miles. The U.S. one-cent coins were launched on the "S.S. Francis R. 'Dick' Scobee," Northrop Grumman's 21st Cygnus cargo spacecraft, named in memory of the fallen commander of NASA's space shuttle Challenger.
Sent skyward by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, the two pennies were a rare addition to the uncrewed capsule's 8,200 pounds (3,720 kilograms) of cargo.
"The pennies are going to be used in what's called the 'Screaming Balloon' demonstration," said Michele Hooks, education project manager for NASA's Office of STEM Engagement, in an interview with collectSPACE.com. "A penny will get inserted in a deflated balloon, and then an astronaut will inflate the balloon and give it a whirl in order to compare it to a hex nut spun inside a second balloon."
