30/07/2018
My creations.... become mascottes!
With only five days to go until ARES III starts, we thought it's a good time to introduce you to our mission mascotte: MAJOR TOM ✨! It's a pluche David Bowie doll 👨🏼🎤 and there are several reasons for why we choose this doll to represent the ARES III mission. 1) Major Tom is a fictive astronaut 👩🏼🚀, created as a David Bowie alter ego. He was first introduced in the song "Space Oddity", 2) David Bowie was always fascinated by space and sings about it on multiple songs 🎼. With regards to the ARES III mission, especially the song "Life on Mars" seems relevant, 3) Earlier this year, SpaceX launched a red Tesla 🏎 into space with its Falcon Heavy. On the radio was playing David Bowie's "Space Oddity" song. 4) Major Tom was also a genetically modified mouse 🐭 that has been on a space mission. The mouse was sacrificed after returning to Earth, but has been a wealth of information for researchers 🔬. In short, we believe this doll represents what ARES III stands for: analog astronauts (1), preparing for Life on Mars (2), doing innovative things (3) and yielding information to advance aerospace and Martian research (4). 🚀
