Sent into space: Guns, a lamb chop and sea urchin sperm

Humans have sent many items into space which might baffle alien life-forms, including a lamb chop

When British astronaut Tim Peake blasts off from the International Space Station later this month, one of his few worldly - and rather bizarre - possessions will be a Stoke City flag. BBC News takes a look at some of the other oddities - the weird and wonderful objects that have journeyed into space.

Heavy-duty guns

The guns were for wolves and bears, sadly not for space-pirates

Soviet cosmonauts went into space carrying a triple barrel TP-82 capable of 40 rounds. It begs the question: "What were they planning to shoot?"

The gun, made in the shape of a large pistol, had two shotgun barrels side by side at the top and a rifled barrel underneath.

It had more than just firing capability - the pistol grip was slotted at the bottom where a specially-designed machete was stashed. Ammunition included shells with a red signal flare.

As it happens, the arsenal was not destined to see off marauding space-pirates, but was deemed necessary after 1965, when cosmonauts landing on Earth were stranded in the Ural Mountains and needed to keep bears and wolves at bay.

A pile of dirt

In 2008 Garrett Reisman threw the first pitch of a Yankees game from the International Space Station. It looked a fairly soft lob, but was travelling at 17,500mph

To be fair, not just any old dirt. It was dirt from the pitcher's mound at the Yankee Stadium in New York City.

Astronaut and Yankees fan Garrett Reisman took a vial of it with him on board the space shuttle Endeavour in 2008.

In April that year, he threw a ceremonial first pitch of a Yankees game from the International Space Station. Travelling at 17,500mph (about 28,000km/h), it was what aficionados of the game call "a fast ball".

A saxophone

Ronald McNair, a keen jazz performer, took a saxophone into space with him

Ronald McNair became the first person to play a musical instrument in outer space, when he tootled on his saxophone on board the Challenger in 1984.

Zero gravity allowed him to float around while playing his instrument, like a jazzy bee.

Sea urchin sperm

It is difficult to make babies in microgravity, Mr and Mrs Sea Urchin found

Although possibly not the first thing that springs to mind when considering what to despatch into space, NASA sent sea urchin sperm and eggs.

It turned out sperm does not like being whirled around in microgravity (mG), and small changes in gravitational forces affect the ability of sperm to fertilize eggs.

A 2001 report concluded that although human reproduction in space was "not an immediate concern, sperm function in mG is of importance for the production of food, such as fish, during extended space flight".

Rocket seeds

Will space rocket persuade schoolchildren to eat more salad?

A favourite salad staple of the middle classes, rocket is to be sent into space with Tim Peake. (His Stoke City flag - which he agreed to take into space after a campaign by a lifelong Potters fan was one of the items sent in a capsule ahead of the astronaut on 3 December.)

Seeds of the appropriately named plant will be flown to the International Space Station and, after several months on board, they will return to Earth and be sent to thousands of UK schools.

The aim is to get school children involved in space biology. And salad.

Rumours that quinoa, extra-virgin olive oil and artisan bread will be next on the list are so far unsubstantiated.

A coffee machine

It may look like Samantha Cristoforetti is drinking from a blood bag, but it is actually coffee

Space is believed to be one of the few places in the universe not bespattered with international coffee shop chains, so a specially designed coffee machine was sent to the Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.

She has to drink her coffee in a bag through a straw to stop it floating around.

Scotty's ashes

The ashes of Star Trek actor James Doohan (far right, back row) were flown into space. Various companies now offer the service for both humans and pets

The ashes of Star Trek actor James Doohan, who died aged 85, were sent into space at his request following those of series creator Gene Roddenberry.

If you fancy sending the ashes of a loved one into space - what is being termed as a "space burial" - various companies offer the service.

It costs about £10,000 to send a gram of ashes into deep space for eternity. The price drops to about £900 if you send them for a quick whizz into zero gravity and back.

Malt whisky

Space whisky tastes different to Earth whisky, but both cause hangovers

Ardbeg Distillery sent unmatured malt whisky into space in 2011 to study the effect of near-zero gravity on flavour.

Another vial of the same whisky was kept at the distillery for comparison - and experts reported the space samples tasted and smelled "noticeably different".

It is to be hoped the whisky samples were not confused with the similarly-coloured recycled urine samples astronauts drink - although that would explain the difference in flavour and odour.

A lamb chop

An unconventional - and inconvenient - way to cook a chop

A tandoori lamb chop was sent into space in 2014 - not a faddy new way of cooking but an elaborate publicity stunt by author Nikesh Shukla to promote his book Meatscape.

The chop was helpfully attached to a fork, but unhelpfully there was no knife. Masterchef contestants should take note - it looked a little dry.

A rubber duck

Students - better known for getting up at lunchtime before watching Countdown - instead had a countdown to launch time when they sent Astroduck into space

A bunch of students proved they certainly do not have too much time on their hands - by tying a rubber duck to a weather balloon and sending it into space.

Astroduck's flight was organised by the at the University of York's astronomy society as a way of encouraging people to get involved in scientific research.

It reached a height of approximately 19 miles (30km) before parachuting back to earth and becoming lost on the North York Moors.

FA Cup final tickets

A gift from the gods? FA Cup final tickets fell from the heavens after the FA sent them into space

Tickets for the Arsenal v Aston Villa match-up at Wembley in May 2015 fell from the sky into the hands of Gunners fan George Lamb.

The FA launched a meteorological balloon with the tickets attached from the north-west London stadium "to finish the off-pitch adventure" leading to an "out-of-this-world match".

Arsenal won an extremely one-sided encounter 4-0.

Communion wafer and wine

Buzz Aldrin said the Moon's gravity made his wine "curl slowly and gracefully" around his glass. Curly moon wine is not available at the off-licence

Buzz Aldrin, an elder at his Presbyterian Church in Texas, took a consecrated Communion wafer and a small vial of Communion wine with him when he visited the Moon.

In a 1970 edition of faith magazine Guideposts he said: "I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me.

"In the one-sixth gravity of the moon the wine curled slowly and gracefully up the side of the cup. It was interesting to think that the very first liquid ever poured on the Moon, and the first food eaten there, were Communion elements."