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I came across an answer saying that a copy of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was sent to space in Elon Musks roadster (in 2018).

Has the book been in space before that (maybe taken to the ISS by an astronaut)?

If yes, how many copies were up there in total?

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    I'm still waiting for a Babel Fish. Maybe Majikthise or Slartibartfast could help ;-) – Fred Sep 19 '20 at 20:22
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    Signs point to yes: https://spaceflight101.com/iss/wp-content/uploads/sites/37/2015/09/exp42-768x1024.jpg – Organic Marble Sep 19 '20 at 21:23
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    More general question that would be interesting is how many actual printed books (novels etc., not technical checklists and the like) have been to space in total. It seems very unlikely that this would have been done at all since the 90s, with E-book-viewing-capable devices being much lighter than paper (and/or needed anyway for other purposes – laptops), but on earlier Shuttle missions? – leftaroundabout Sep 21 '20 at 11:01

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It has been there 3 times

  1. Michael Foale took it to Mir in 1997.
  2. Samantha Cristoforetti brought it to the ISS (International Space Station) in 2015. She actually brought it up to read, not symbolically.
  3. As you said in the question, it was brought with Starman on Falcon Heavy's demonstration mission.
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    Nice. Incidentally, do you know about the crew poster with her in it, where they dressed up like the movie? https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/20141121_exp-42-hitchhiker-poster.jpg – Organic Marble Mar 12 '23 at 00:40
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    As in it wasn't brought to space because the astronaut had read and loved the book, it was brought for her to actually read it. @OrganicMarble – Starship - On Strike Mar 12 '23 at 00:42
  • Woops, I see I left that same comment about the poster on the question. Oh well. – Organic Marble Mar 12 '23 at 00:44