Johannesburg - Life has been travelling at ‘galactic speed’ recently for South African Timothy Nash who, in a historic first, took two fossils of ancient human relatives to space with him this month.
The South African entrepreneur, adventurer and conservationist told “The Saturday Star” that taking the fossils along with him on the third Virgin Galactic commercial space flight was a bid to pay tribute to the contribution of all human ancestors and ancient human relatives for their contribution in making space flight possible.
“I’m passionate about the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site and spend a lot of my time helping to ensure that it will be protected in perpetuity, because of its importance to all of Humankind in understanding our origins,” said Nash, a South African-born citizen who also has British residency.
“It seemed fitting that fossils from the Cradle, belonging to our early ancestors and representing the spirit of exploration and discovery that has led humans to travel to space, should accompany me.”
Nash explained that Professor Lee Berger, a renowned palaeontologist, explorer and member of the National Geographic Society, as well as his son Matthew, were at Spaceport, a site for launching or receiving spacecraft, to hand the fossils to him before lift-off.
The fossils of the 2 million-years-old South African fossil hominin species Australopithecus sediba and the 250 000 years old hominin species Homo naledi will now form part of a travelling exhibition to museums around the world to encourage people, especially, the youth, to explore and contribute to scientific knowledge.
Nash, a private astronaut, explained that for the fossils to travel with him to space, they had to be held safely in a carbon fibre container, which departed from Spaceport America, and they had to be carried by the mothership, VMS Eve, to an altitude of 45 000 - 50 000 feet (13.7 - 15km), before VSS Unity separated from the mothership and ignited its rocket engine for the climb to suborbital space.
“The fossils were very carefully bubble wrapped and then placed in a 20cm-long carbon-fibre protective tube that I then placed in the knee pocket of my spacesuit for the flight,” Nash said.
And after returning from space with the fossils, Nash is still trying to process this adventure.
“The flight itself was exhilarating and like nothing I’ve ever experienced before, and despite the training, nothing can prepare you fully for the sensation of a rocket firing a few metres behind your back, after being released from the mothership (VMS Eve),” he said.
“The combination of the vibration, noise, acceleration and G-forces is mind-blowing and then, as quickly as all the noise started, which was seconds after the pilots commanded ‘’fire’ and ignited the rocket engine, everything goes eerily quiet and you are hurtling upwards at three times the speed of sound, into the blackness beyond Earth’s atmosphere.”
This dream to go to space with the human fossils was almost two decades in the making for Nash, one of the founder' astronauts whose forward-thinking vision helped make the dream of regular commercial space flights a reality. His flight on the Virgin Galactic is just the third commercial spaceflight and fourth spaceflight in four months.
“I originally purchased my ticket 17 years ago, when the project was a dream of Sir Richard Branson and I have waited patiently ever since for the technology to be developed and tested to where it can safely take us on the ultimate ride,” he explained.
“The actual order of flight among the early ticket holders was determined by a lottery draw and I was lucky enough to be drawn for the first founder customer flight.”
Meanwhile, Berger added that the journey of these fossils into space “represents humankind’s appreciation of the contribution of all of humanity’s ancestors and our ancient relatives”.
“Without their invention of technologies such as fire and tools, and their contribution to the evolution of the contemporary human mind, such extraordinary endeavours as spaceflight would not have happened,” he said.
Wits University Vice-hancellor Professor Zeblon Vilakazi added that “it is tremendously appropriate that a South African fossil of Australopithecus sediba, discovered by a young child, is among the first fossils to journey into space”.
“While the journey is symbolically important itself, the fossil is also famous for showing how children and youth can contribute to science through exploration and discovery.”
Dr Bernhard Zipfel, curator of Collections at Wits also believes that the fossils were carefully chosen not only for their symbolic importance, but because they are among the most documented fossils of hominids in existence, with casts, scans and images available across the world due to scientific and open access efforts.
And as the representative body of the South African government responsible for conserving and preserving the sites within the Cradle of Humankind Unesco World Heritage site, and also responsible for bringing awareness of the importance of this heritage to the world, Matthew Sathekge, CEO of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site and Dinokeng Projects of the Gauteng Department of Economic Development, said they were thrilled to watch the inspirational journey of these fossils from South Africa into space.
“We sincerely hope it brings further awareness of the importance of our country and the African continent to understanding the journey of humankind that has led to this historic moment where commercial spaceflight is possible.”
And for Nash, taking the human fossils with him to space was an opportunity of a lifetime.
“It’s been a great honour to be among the first 800-odd humans to have been into space and the memories will stay with me forever.”