Little Rocket Man Gnome Chompski is heading into space for charity, courtesy of Valve's Gabe Newell, as the easter egg of Half-Life 2 and Left 4 Dead fame will be launched in a rocket for real during Rocket Lab's upcoming Flight 16 mission. For every viewer who tunes in to watch the stream, Newell will pledge $1 to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Starship Children's Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand.
Gnome Chompski was introduced as a nondescript garden gnome in Valve's Half-Life 2. If a player carrying him to the final location of the game and locked him in a rocket, they could earn the Our Mutual Fiend achievement. In the second installment, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, launching the gnome into space appropriately earned the player the Little Rocket Man achievement. The gnome earned his name, Gnome Chompski, in later Valve title Left 4 Dead 2, where he appeared as an Easter egg during the Dark Carnival campaign, and as part of another achievement. The name is a not-so-subtle nod to philosopher, linguist, scientist, and political activist Noam Chomsky.
The mission is a collaboration between Newell and New Zealand-based companies Weta Workshop, a collectible design and manufacturing company, and Rocket Lab, a small aerospace company. Rocket Lab announced the mission on its website, whose launch window is scheduled to open up on November 14. Gnome will be riding along with a variety of other satellites, including the student-built Waka Āmiorangi Aotearoa APSS-1 from the University of Auckland, designed to determine the effect of ionospheric disturbances on earthquakes. Meanwhile, Weta, whose body of work includes armor, props, and prosthetics for The Lord of the Rings film series, was responsible for 3D-printing Gnome's likeness as a 5.9-inch tall titanium idol. The collaboration came to greater attention when Matthew Bailey of Team Secret tweeted out the image of Chompski in front of the Electron launch vehicle that'll carry him into space:
Gnome's plane ticket into space has been booked for Flight 16's 14-day launch window, and his mission is more than just a novelty. Besides Newell's charity pledge, Weta's titanium Chompski will test a new 3D printing technique that could potentially be used to build future spacecraft components. Chompski will be attached to the Electron during the Kick Stage designed to burn up the rocket upon reentry, leaving no trace of "space junk" behind. So Gnome's probability of survival, to the schadenfreude of many Half-Life 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 players, is extremely low.
But although Gnome likely won't survive, his journey will become a whole new kind of achievement. What better way, after all, to pay "homage to the innovation and creativity of gamers worldwide" than to take part in the next phase of space technology, and earn money for an amazing cause at the same time? Viewers who want to be counted towards Newell's charity pledge can tune into the live stream on Rocket Lab's website, starting November 14th.
Source: Rocket Lab
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