August 5, 2024

Two pennies began their journey to the International Space Station on August 4, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. These pennies were part of the uncrewed capsule’s 8,200-pound cargo.

The pennies will be used in a “STEMonstration,” a series of short educational videos filmed on the space station aimed at engaging grade school children in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects. Each experiment in the series is designed for students to replicate in their classrooms, hence the use of pennies.

In one experiment, an astronaut will place a penny inside a deflated balloon, inflate it, and spin the balloon to compare its behavior with that of a hex nut inside another balloon and demonstrate differences in centripetal force, according to NASA’s education project manager.

This isn’t the first time pennies have left Earth. A 1909 Lincoln Cent went to Mars in 2012. Another U.S. penny flew on Apollo 11, carried by Neil Armstrong, and several pennies flew on Apollo 14, including one as part of a multi-coin set. On Apollo 15, two pennies from 1969 and 1970 were flown for support crew members, along with an 1845 Large Cent and an Indian Head penny.

The oldest and perhaps most valuable penny flown into space was a 1793 Flowing Hair cent, the second style of penny issued by the U.S. It was secretly carried by the Gemini 7 crew’s flight surgeon in 1965 and later sold at auction for $82,250.

In 1972, following a congressional investigation, NASA implemented a policy prohibiting astronauts from carrying certain personal items, including coins, on missions. However, this policy does not apply to robotic missions and STEMonstrations that provide students with a connection to NASA and scientific work conducted on the space station