What do you get when you fold together the ambitions and contributions of four space station-bound astronauts from the United States, Japan and Russia? A zero-g indicator in the form of an origami crane.
Minutes after arriving in Earth orbit on Friday (March 14), the members of Crew-10 — SpaceX’s 10th operational mission to the International Space Station (ISS) under NASA’s commercial crew program — revealed their choice for the traditional plush toy used to signal they entered the microgravity environment of outer space. Mission specialist Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) held out the bird to float, while commander Anne McClain of NASA introduced it to the world.
“This is a hand-crocheted origami crane. His name is ‘Droog,’ which is the Russian name for friend,” said McClain.
“Origami is the Japanese art of folding paper,” she said in a live broadcast to the ground. “This is a nod to the unique and deep cultural traditions from which each of us come. While all from different parts of the world, we are brought together in this bold endeavor, and we represent all of humanity.”
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Flying with McClain and Onishi are NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers, Crew-10 pilot, and mission specialist Kirill Peskov with the Russian federal space corporation Roscosmos. They launched together on board SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft “Endurance” atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:03 p.m. EDT (2303 GMT).
Endurance is scheduled to dock to the forward port of the Harmony module at about 11:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday (March 15; 0330 GMT on Sunday, March 16). Aboard the station, they will briefly serve on the Expedition 72 crew before transitioning to Expedition 73, after conducting a hand-off with the members of Crew-9 before the latter returns home to Earth as early as Wednesday (March 19), weather permitting.
Crew-10 is the first space mission in history where both the commander and pilot have been women. Beyond that, all four crew members are trained aircraft pilots.
“The flags and the number markings on the crane — there is a number ’10’ on each of its wings and a flag from each one of our countries on the tail — is a nod to each of our shared experiences as professional pilots,” said McClain. “These patches are arranged to [make the crane] look like an airplane. This is a point of deep pride for our crew, because what pilot doesn’t like to talk about the fact that they are a pilot?”
The custom of flying zero-g indicators began in the former Soviet Union with the launch of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, in 1961. The tradition migrated to the United States with SpaceX’s first demonstration flight of its Crew Dragon in 2019. Since then, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft and NASA’s Orion capsule have also flown with plush toys as ZGIs.
Droog follows another bird, Crew-9’s plush baby falcon, “Aurora.” Crew-2 in 2021 launched with “GuinGuin,” a baby penguin doll.
McClain and her crewmates opted for an origami crane for what it symbolizes.
“Our zero-g indicator was handmade by a small business owner in the United States. This represents all of the hands that created our entire space program and this rocket and this capsule that we are flying today,” said McClain. “It also represents all of the artists and musicians who inspire people to imagine beyond what they can see.”
Origami cranes are also an international symbol for peace, hope and healing. In 2011, when a powerful earthquake hit Japan, the then-crew of the International Space Station folded paper cranes that were loaded onto a departing Japanese cargo ship as tokens of sympathy.
“Crew-10 hopes to further this beacon of hope,” said McClain, “as a reminder of what humans can accomplish when we see the goodness in one another and choose to work together toward a common goal.”
“We explore for the benefit of all. If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, then go together,” she said. “Crew-10 chooses to go together in peace because we cannot be great without the greatness of others.”
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