Elon Musk has officially designated Asteroid, a character designed by 15-year-old Liv Perrotto, as the official mascot for SpaceX. The decision comes after a heartfelt appeal from Liv’s mother, fulfilling one of the final wishes of the young space enthusiast who recently passed away from cancer.
Liv, a dedicated fan of space exploration, designed Asteroid—a Shiba Inu in a spacesuit—to serve as the “zero-gravity indicator” for the Polaris Dawn mission. While she had hoped to ask Musk several questions herself, she was too ill to speak during a scheduled call just days before her passing.
The handwritten list of questions remained on her nightstand until her mother, Rebecca Perrotto, shared them publicly with the help of Glenn Beck. Musk responded to the list directly, granting Liv’s final request to make Asteroid the face of the company.
In a direct response to the teen’s curiosity, Musk provided answers to the questions she never got to ask:
On Tech and Gaming: Musk confirmed that SpaceX has no plans to manufacture its own phone but noted that new games are coming in future Tesla updates.
On Expansion: He verified that the Tesla Diner concept will be expanding to new areas.
On Personal Favorites: Musk shared that his favorite anime is Your Name and confirmed he has visited Japan several times, citing Kyoto and the teamLab exhibits as his favourite spots. He also acknowledged his familiarity with Hatsune Miku and confirmed that the character Ani was inspired by Misa from Death Note.
The most significant confirmation was a simple “Ok” in response to making Asteroid the official SpaceX mascot. This means the character will now represent the company across its future missions, from Falcon 9 launches to the eventual journey to Mars.
For the Perrotto family, the gesture provides a sense of peace. “Knowing it will now be a part of every SpaceX mission, flying among the stars forever? That’s healing I can’t even put into words,” said Rebecca Perrotto.
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