SpaceX makes plush Earth a star, toy company sells out

The company behind the Earth plush toy launched to the International Space Station is now sold out after astronauts posted pictures of it in action.

SpaceX put the cute “little Earth” toy on the Crew Dragon capsule to serve as a “super high tech zero-g indicator” (as Elon Musk joked) during the launch of its first uncrewed demonstration mission.  It was accompanied by Ripley the dummy astronaut, named after the main character in the 1979 movie “Alien.”

According to Space.com, Ripley the dummy returned to Earth on March 8 inside the Crew Dragon capsule, but little Earth did not.  SpaceX engineer Kate Tice told NASA astronaut Bob Behnken on a webcast that the toy was not coming back until astronauts bring him back.  Behnken refers to the toy as "Little Earthy."

Since then, NASA astronaut Anne McClain, who's an Expedition 58 crew members on board the ISS, has been tweeting pictures of "Little Earthy" in different scenarios.

Here’s the first video where the toy appears:

(Video)

Later McClain shows Earthy looking at the real Earth:

(Tweet)

Later came pictures of Earthy drinking coffee and wearing an ammonia mask for training purposes:

(Tweet)

And here’s Earthy learning how to manage trash and work the controls:

(Tweet)

The plush toy is made by a company called Celestial Buddies, who posted on their website they are currently sold out.

The company wrote on its site, “We at Celestial Buddies had no advance information about Earth’s participation in the launch, although a sudden flurry of orders for Earth in the 48 hours prior to lift off had made us wonder if something was afoot. By the time the rocket left Cape Kennedy, however, our entire inventory of Earth had been completely sold out, with scores of orders still unfilled.”

According to Space.com, Earthy is set to come home with the first Crew Dragon astronauts this summer.  That will be SpaceX’s first-ever crewed mission.