What Will You Take

So, you have been selected to go on a mission to space, what will you take?

When we consider the challenges of space travel and interplanetary colonization we do not generally consider what we will be leaving behind. I have addressed this a few times elsewhere in these postings but here is a challenge for you.

Considering the costs of launching into space to the ISS, astronauts have been limited by weight in what they are allowed to take with them. The Space Shuttle Program for example allowed each astronaut a mere twenty individual personal items with a net weight of just 1.5 pounds. That's basically like a small carry-on bag.

Here are a few examples of luggage charges.

a. Astronaut Scot Kelly had lemons flown up. Cost - $2000.00 each

b. The space shuttle could carry a pound of materials for about $10,000.00 per pound. Although the shuttle was a very expensive machine, this low cost was possible due to the massive weight a shuttle could carry.

c. The SpaceX dragon capsule is cheaper than a shuttle but still costs about $9,100 per pound due to its limited carry capacity. 

d. The cost of sending up astronaut Kjell Lindgren’s bagpipes works out at between $54,000 to $295,000, depending on which lift vehicle you used.

e. A typical bottled water you would buy to drink would cost around $9,000 to send up.

As you can see, it’s not cheap, and the second consideration is storage capacity in the launch vehicle and once you get there. 

If you are lucky enough to become an interplanetary colonists the storage and weight factors would severely limit what you could take with you. The challenge then is this:

You are allowed 10 pounds of personal items (clothing is supplied)
and they must fit into a flight case supplied for you.
Its dimensions are:

13 ½” x 10 1/8” x 3” (34.3 x 25.73 x 7.62cm)

What will you take?