A small collection of handmade objects became a meaningful reminder of home, family and life on Earth for the Crew-12 astronauts during their more than seven months aboard the International Space Station, with astronaut Jessica Meir sharing how each crew member chose a personal symbol for their microgravity indicator before NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Los Angeles on October 8, according to NASA.
Astronaut Jack Hathaway chose a moon hand-crocheted by his daughter. Rather than immediately revealing what it was, Meir invited everyone to guess. The handmade Earth and its four satellites carry different meanings, but together they represent the astronauts’ connections to family, memories, home and the planet they share.
Because it reminded him of an old Soviet space movie, astronaut Andrey Fedyaev chose a symbol.
Each colour woven into the moon represents a member of his family or a cherished shared activity, according to Meir. Bringing the four personal symbols together, Meir presented the collection as “Planet Gaia and her moons”, floating inside Crew-12’s Dragon.
