The Terrible Towel made its way into outer space again.
More than a decade after astronaut Mike Fincke took the Steelers battle flag past the clouds ahead of Super Bowl XLIII, which the team went on to win, another Pittsburgh-area native, Warren “Woody” Hoburg, took it back this year, meaning the towel — a Myron Cope brainchild — has now been to space more times than John Glenn. (New Castle astronaut Drew Morgan had the towel on his space odyssey in 2019.)
Hoburg and the towel are back gravity-side, having splashed down off the coast of Florida earlier this month with the rest of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission.
He talked about the interstellar experience and his choice of carry-on in a news conference attended by PA Local earlier this week.
Hoburg said when he heard that they could bring a few small items with them on the journey from Cape Canaveral to the International Space Station, the decision was a no-brainer.
As the merch vendors used to yell throughout the stadium: "If you ain't got a towel, you ain't got nothing.”
So the North Hills native and lifelong Steelers fan took the token with him during his first space mission, which set off on March 2.
Remarkable towel photos followed, including this one from Aug. 31.
“If you’re wondering whether this yinzer brought a Terrible Towel to space, the answer is yes,” read the caption.
Hoburg dutifully documented his journey on X, formerly known as Twitter, also posting a one-of-a-kind view of Pittsburgh from 250 miles up.
“Seeing my hometown from orbit was amazing. It's amazing how quickly the scenery goes by underneath us,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “I could see the three rivers just standing out clear as day so many times as we passed over, so that was really really fun.”
Hoburg said he adjusted to his new surroundings (and laws of physics) quickly. He's having to acclimate to the old ones now.
“It's amazing watching the body adapt. And you very quickly get used to that being your new normal,” he said. “It has been really interesting realizing how used to being weightless I was. And how strange basic things like walking and trying to jog feel now.”
He continued:
“Before I flew, obviously, we do so much training, and we get ready and get well prepared, but there is still an aspect of uncertainty. It's just impossible to know what it's really going to feel like.”
Hoburg joins 22 other astronauts with Pennsylvania roots, a lineage he said he is honored to continue, calling it a “dream come true.”
—Tanisha Thomas, newsletter writer / reporter | 
