Albert Einstein gets a Pi Day birthday shout-out from space
But the physicist's birthday isn't the only ISS-related nod to Pi Day.
Albert Einstein was born on Pi Day on March 14, 1879, and died in 1955, years before the first human ventured into space. On his birthday in 2019, his image graces the International Space Station.
Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques shared a picture of Einstein floating in microgravity in front of a backdrop of Earth's blue water and clouds.
— David Saint-Jacques (@Astro_DavidS) March 14, 2019
The image shows a particularly wild-haired Einstein along with the message, "Happy birthday, Albert Einstein!" There's an additional handwritten note: "Your genius legacy lives on!"
Einstein's birthday isn't the only ISS-related nod to Pi Day today. Two NASA astronauts and a Roscosmos cosmonaut are set to launch to the ISS on Thursday on a Soyuz rocket. The launch time is set for 3:14 p.m. ET (12:14 p.m. PT).
On our way to the launch complex at Baikonur Cosmodrome. Lift off on #PiDay...an engineer’s dream come true. Next stop, @Space_Station! pic.twitter.com/B1O7SYgbeU
— Nick Hague (@AstroHague) March 14, 2019
NASA's Nick Hague is one of the space travelers who will be on board. He called the Pi Day launch "an engineer's dream come true." If all goes as planned, he'll be able to visit Einstein in space very soon.
