Sir Isaac Newton's legacy is heading into Space.
A four-inch sliver of bark from Sir Isaac's famous Apple Tree is headed into Space on the Space Shuttle Atlantis to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the Royal Society in London.
The astronaut who is carrying it, Piers Sellers, said,
"We're delighted to take this piece of Sir Isaac Newton's apple tree to orbit. While it's up there, it will be experiencing no gravity, so if it had an apple on it, the apple wouldn't fall," Sellers said of the mission. "I'm pretty sure that Sir Isaac would have loved to see this, assuming he wasn't spacesick, as it would have proved his first law of motion to be correct."
The Atlantis is on its way to the International Space Station where “I’ll take it up into orbit and let it float around a bit, which will confuse Isaac, and bring it back and give it to the society,” he said.
Irony, right?
At least scientists have a sense of humor!
(This is the real Apple Tree at Sir Isaac Newton's homestead in England!)
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