The titanium replica of Gnome Chompski that’s headed into space. Take us with you, Gnome! (Source: Rocket Labs)

Gabe Newell, president of Bellevue-based Valve Software, announced this morning that he’s having a garden gnome fired into space for charity.

It makes a little more sense in context. The American-founded, New Zealand-based aerospace company Rocket Labs has announced its plans for the next mission for its Electron orbital vehicle. In its next launch window, which starts on November 15 UTC, the Electron will carry several satellites into orbit for purposes such as telecommunications, equipment tests, and an experiment in earthquake detection by students at the University of Auckland.

It will also have a stowaway, courtesy of Newell, whose company makes and operates the Steam game platform. The final item in the Electron’s payload is a recreation of “Gnome Chompski,” a garden gnome that became a running joke in various games by Valve Software, particularly Half-Life 2. The space-bound version of Gnome stands 150 mm (5.9 inches) tall and was 3D-printed from titanium by Weta Workshop, a special effects company in Miramar, New Zealand that has worked on the live-action Lord of the Rings movies.

When the Electron goes up on Nov. 16, Gnome will be attached to its “Kick Stage” rocket engine, which also means that Gnome is probably doomed. The Kick Stage is designed to burn up in re-entry during the Electron’s de-orbiting process, in order to keep from further crowding Earth’s atmosphere with space debris.

Gnome’s big day out serves three main purposes. One is to test and qualify the 3D printing technique that was used to make Gnome, to see if it could be a viable method for making spacecraft components. Second, Gnome is listed in Electron’s news release as a “mass simulator,” or dummy payload, which functions as a test for rocket performance. The third is that for everyone who watches the Electron launch’s livestream, Newell has promised to donate one dollar to the Paediatric Intensive Care unit at the Starship Children’s Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand.

“This money,” Valve Software writes, “may someday help achieve Newell’s ultimate dream — launching a children’s hospital into space — but in the interim will be used for more practical hospital-related purposes.”

Gabe Newell welcomes the crowd at The International, an eSports gaming tournament sponsored by Valve. (GeekWire Photo / Kevin Lisota)

Newell was in Auckland on vacation back in March when New Zealand closed its borders due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He opted to stay in the country afterward, and has been there ever since. To quote Valve’s press release, he “has been looking for a way to help the economy and the community that sheltered him (or at least hasn’t kicked him out yet).”

The release also states that Newell “would like the good people of New Zealand, global leaders of living in New Zealand, to know that his eccentric attempts at charity are largely harmless and pose no immediate threat to their way of life.” Newell previously put together a free concert in August, called We Love Aotearoa, as a thank-you to his host country.

Gnome Chompski has a certain amount of infamy among Valve Software’s fans. First appearing in 2007’s Half-Life 2: Episode 2, the garden gnome was initially a simple interactive background prop. What got the gnome its notoriety was a difficult achievement, called “Little Rocket Man,” which requires a player to pick up the gnome at the start of Episode 2 and carry it all the way to the game’s end.

The gnome went on to make many cameo appearances throughout subsequent Valve games like Portal and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. He didn’t officially become “Gnome Chompski” until 2009’s Left 4 Dead 2, where he appears as a booth prize in the Dark Carnival campaign. Gnome’s last appearance was in this year’s Half-Life: Alyx, where players can once again bring him from near the start to the game’s end to unlock a new achievement, “Gnome Vault of My Own.”

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