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Today, Gabe Newell announced that he and Rocket Labs are teaming up to send a garden gnome into space. Newell is even adding some spice to the deal by pledging to donate $1 to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at Starship for every person that watches the launch online at rocketlabusa.com either live or within 24 hours of launch.
The gnome itself will be manufactured with support from the Weta Workshop. It will be made of titanium and printed in the shape of the Half-Life celebrity, Gnome Chompski. It will be 150mm in size and integrated with Electron's Kick Stage, which is designed to deliver small satellites into precise orbits, and launched as part of a rideshare mission from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand during a 14-day launch window that begins on November 16 (NZT).
Sadly, Gnome Chompski will not be returning to Earth after his foray into the stars.
One revolutionary feature of Kick Stage is its ability to reorient and deorbit itself post launch, enabling it to re-enter the atmosphere and burn up without a trace. While this is good news for the environment, it doesn't bode well for Gnome Chompski's chances of returning safely to Earth, which Newell admits are "grim."
Newell was in New Zealand, visiting friends at Weta Workshop and Rocket Labs, when the pandemic hit earlier this year. He has since called Auckland his temporary home, and has been looking for a way to help the economy and the community that sheltered him (or at least hasn't kicked him out yet). Newell would like the good people of New Zealand, global leaders of living in New Zealand, to know that his eccentric attempts at charity are largely harmless and pose no immediate threat to their way of life.
