When Virgin Galactic’s private spaceship, the VSS Unity, was launched into orbit on September 8, it was carrying a most unique cargo. These were two fossilized bones that belonged to two different species of archaic human: Australopithecus sebida , which lived in southern Africa two million years ago, and the much younger Homo naledi , which occupied the African continent 250,000 years ago. These two species now carry the distinction of being the only extinct hominins to ever leave the surface of the Earth, which is something neither would have thought possible when they were alive and walking across the planet so many aeons ago.
The largest and oldest of the two space-born fossils is an Australopithecus sebida clavicle bone unearthed by nine-year-old fossil hunter Matthew Berger in 2008, at an archaeological site known as Malapa in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage park in Johannesburg, South Africa. The second fossil is a Homo naledi thumb bone that was found in 2013 by professional archaeologists performing excavations at the Rising Star Cave system , which is also included within the boundaries of the Cradle of Humankind site.
During the flight, the two ancient hominin bones were in the possession of Timothy Nash, a South African conservationist and entrepreneur who has been participating in human origins research in Africa. They were kept inside a sealed carbon fiber container, which kept them safe and dry throughout their trip into outer space and back.
