Gabe Newell sends Half-Life’s Gnome Chompski into Space Thursday, For Charity.

[Adorable Cat]

Summary

 

 

Gabe Newell (Valve founder) has partnered with Rocket Lab to include a 5 inch titanium replica of the gnome on the Electron rocket launching from New Zealand on Thursday. "Gnome Chompski" was originally featured in Half Life 2: Episode 2 where players could get an achievement by carrying him through the game and then placing him inside a rocket. In addition, Gabe has pledged to donate 1 dollar for every viewer of the launch to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the New Zealand Starship Children's Hospital.

Quotes

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Rocket Lab's sleek, black Electron rocket is set to launch from New Zealand's picturesque Māhia Peninsula on Thursday. The mission is a significant step in the plucky spaceflight startup's ambitious plans to recover a rocket booster in midair with a helicopter. It's also set to be momentous for gnomes and Gabe Newell, founder of video game powerhouse Valve.

A 5-inch titanium garden gnome, dubbed Gnome Chompski, will be strapped to the Electron rocket's Kick Stage, a circular platform that drops satellites into orbit and then falls back toward the Earth, for the duration of the mission. 

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Chompski's flight isn't all science and video games, either. It's also going to contribute to charity. For every viewer of the launch, Newell has pledged to donate $1 to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit New Zealand's Starship Foundation.

What fate ultimately awaits the gnome? Not a pretty one. Eventually, the Kick Stage and Chompski will burn up upon re-entry to Earth's atmosphere. 

My thoughts

 As a huge half life fan I think this is really cool, and I'll probably watch the launch to contribute towards that donation. I'm also glad that gnome's gonna burn up in the atmosphere, I'll take that as payback for having to drag him through the car segment of episode 2.

 

Sources

 https://www.cnet.com/news/valves-gabe-newell-is-rocketing-a-half-life-2-icon-to-space-thursday/

https://www.pcgamesn.com/gabe-newell-garden-gnome-space-launch

[givingtnt]

Tis also in L4D2, in the carnival.

This is absolutely hilarious and I love everything about it.

[Taf the Ghost]

I do really appreciate that rich guys have really gotten their Space Meme game on point. Means they actually care about the field.

[TetraSky]

God, CNET makes it a pain to find anything on their articles. They always just link to their own past articles instead of the ONE THING the article is about and if they do link it, it's in yet another article that you need to carefully comb through.

 

Here's the livestream link : 

 

They will also stream on Twitch, if you're more of a Twitch user.

[strajk-]

Contents of the gnome is the only exemplar of the HL3 source code and all of its references.

[Drama Lama]

The funniest charity I’ve ever heard of 

[ARikozuM]

I love both versions of Gnome Chompski. Though the achievement was bugged for me. 

[Bombastinator]

There’s a character named gnome chompski in a Netflix kids animation as well.  There it’s a full on character with sharp teeth that chews on things and is in love with a barbi doll.