Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on February 2011

Courtesy of JAXA

What: White stork figurine

Where: International Space Station, in orbit above the earth

Who: Created by staff at Ibaraki’s Tsukuba Space Center

Why: This 20cm-tall mascot was a “surprise gift” to crewmembers aboard the ISS, who discovered the stuffed toy when they opened the cargo doors of the H-2 Transfer Vehicle, which had been launched from Japan

Source: The Asahi Shimbun