As awesome as all that was, I can't help but feel sad that neither Douglas Adams nor David Bowie lived to see this.
Nor Asimov. They mentioned a copy of The Foundation series was on board.
Does anyone know how long a book (paper) would last in space?
Why wouldn't it last functionally forever? It's now in vacuum, and eventually will get to whatever temperature the sun can bake it to at that distance from the sun... I'm guessing it'll be there as long as the car is.
Radiation might be a concern. It could possibly embrittle the paper over time.
I'd guess that the temperature fluctuations and radiation would be pretty hard on paper. Zero humidity would probably make it brittle as well.
They did.
The glove box has a copy of the 'The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy' plus a towel
Makes my day that much better. Giving approval to that kind of lightheartedness shows great confidence in the team's ability and makes overall morale palpable. Well done.