‘I’d introduce aliens to shito sauce.’ Items our panel would take into space | Maggie Aderin, Sheila Hancock, Michael Akadiri, Michael Rosen, Athena Kugblenu and Nels Abbey
A purple fabric alien to remind me of my daughter’s love
Maggie Aderin
Space scientist and CEO of Science Innovation Ltd
The object I would take with me to the moon would be a little alien my daughter made In my opinion. She is studying textiles for GCSE and used a loom to make a beautiful piece of purple fabric, my favorite colour. She then sewed it onto a small alien creature. I would love to take it with me because the moon would be the farthest creature from Earth. I smile every time I look at it and see the love my daughter put into it.
Great works of writing and music would strengthen my brain
Sheila Hancock
These days I care little for personal property, but as time is running out for me and I am painfully aware of my ignorance, I will use my trip to the moon to educate myself, so that I may return as a more cultured Guardian reader. THE complete works of Shakespeare will cover theater at its most profound. War and Peace will deal with some formidable and intimidating literature. And the complete Mahler symphonies led by their supreme interpreter, Claudio Abbado, will help me look death in the face. I hope the journey through these topics will empower my weakened brain and inspire me to continue to savor the genius of the human animal when I return to its natural habitat.
A trip to the moon would be an opportunity to read old birthday cards
Michael Akadiri
Stand-up comedian and resident doctor
I’m not even familiar with airplanes – yet if I boarded a spaceship and took off like Team Rocket, I know I’d have three items in tow. First, a spaceship responsible for old birthday cards. Family and friends tend to write the healthiest, most loving monologues I once read before banishing them to the loft. A trip to the Moon would be a welcome opportunity to reminisce. Instead of the Notes app on my phone, I would bring a old-a school notepad. I should keep a contemporary record of my thoughts and feelings – for example, what words did I shout during takeoff? Do calories count in space? On Earth, it’s gravity that literally weighs us down, right? So I would treat myself to a handful of puff-puff (Nigerian donuts). Don’t tell my personal trainer.
Children’s author and broadcaster
I think when I get up there I’ll need a favorite taste, a reminder of the past, and a reminder of my wife. So that’s what I would take. Giant yellow Chilean grapes from the W Martyn boutique in Muswell Hill, London. They are soft, not too sweet, with a slight touch of citrus. I tell the kids that I eat so many of them that I’ve become Michael Raisin. THE oval brown pebble I’m from the lane where I spent the first 16 years of my life, living in an apartment above a store. It was the only way into our apartment and the venue for grand cup finals and test matches, so to speak. THE “hairy”, as we called itthat my wife took to the hospital in 2020, after being on a ventilator with coronavirus. It’s a cover. I was cold all the time and what we called blankets – which I thought were sheets – didn’t keep me warm.
Without a doubt, I would take a pair of Crocs. The real giant leap for humanity was the embrace of comfort and convenience over style. Contact by Carl Sagan is more of a manual than a novel. I think this would be a handy guide for me, should aliens decide to make contact. Finally a pot of shita Ghanaian condiment made from shrimp, tomatoes and peppers. It’s delicious, even though I don’t eat it anymore because of my veganism. But I would appreciate it if the aliens learned shito before learning profanity. Less explanation to do later.
Gil Scott-Heron would inspire me with his cynicism
Nels Abbey
If I was sent to the moon, that only means one thing: they got me. I was drafted. To protect my sanity, stability, and integrity (in addition to overcoming the multiple obstacles of claustrophobia, motion sickness, and vertigo), I would carry with me a collection of inspiring thoughts from some of the world’s most successful cynics. Gil Scott-Heron White on the Moon maybe: “A rat bit my sister Nell / (With Whitey on the moon) / Her face and arms started to swell / (And Whitey is on the moon) / I can’t pay doctor bills / (But Whitey is on the moon) / In ten years I’ll still be paying / (While Whitey is on the moon).” Stand-up routines on running and space from the great comedian Paul Mooney would also make the trip. White space officials can forget the misfortune of losing a multimillion-dollar space probe or two, he said, and be forgiven. But a black NASA official was quickly put on a rocket: “Go get the space probe,” they told him. “Don’t come back if you can’t find it.” That’s the only reason I see they would send me.
