SpaceX Mascot ASTEROID Fast Track $170 million, Stemming from an Unfinished Space Dream

Original Title: "How did the Meme ASTEROID Speedrun hit every beat of the spread rhythm?"
Original Author: Harbour, Odaily Planet Daily

In January of this year, Musk's "Post-Gen Z Fangirl" Liv Perrotto's life was forever frozen at the age of 15, and her design Asteroid was officially recognized by Musk as the SpaceX mascot early this morning (April 19). The namesake Meme SOL on ASTEROID saw a short-term market cap surge exceeding $6 million, while the ETH on ASTEROID surged past $170 million (Editor's Note: ASTEROID's market cap has now fallen to around $126 million, with significant meme volatility. Readers should be cautious of the risks)

And the last explosively terrifying Meme was the Binance Lifetime six months ago.

Asteroid Designer Liv Perrotto's Space Dream

Liv Perrotto was born in 2010. From a very young age, she has been passionate about space, dreaming of becoming an astronaut or fighter pilot.

In March 2021, she felt unwell and was later found to have a huge tumor in her neck during an examination. She was diagnosed with a rare and highly aggressive tumor disease, embarking on a multi-year journey of fighting cancer. Despite undergoing high-intensity chemotherapy, radiotherapy, multiple surgeries, and clinical trials, enduring immense physical and psychological pressure, she has always maintained her love for space and an optimistic attitude.

During her treatment, Liv came into contact with the Inspiration4 mission launched by SpaceX. This was the world's first all-civilian orbital flight project and also raised funds for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Through this opportunity, Liv not only connected with the project team but was also invited to watch the launch on site with her family on her 11th birthday. This experience brought her closest to her space dream for the first time and became one of the most important spiritual supports for her during her battle with cancer.

In early 2022, Liv underwent a high-risk surgery to successfully remove the tumor and was subsequently confirmed to be in remission. Over the next two and a half years, her condition stabilized at one point, and her connection to the aerospace field continued to deepen.

In SpaceX's subsequent Polaris project, she was invited to participate in designing the "zero-gravity indicator" for the mission. This is a small doll that will float up when the spacecraft enters zero gravity to mark the entry into space. Liv quickly completed the design — a plush corgi named Asteroid, inspired by her imagination of space and her love for cute characters.

Liv's sketch artwork "ASTEROID" flies to space with Inspiration4

In 2024, the "Asteroid" designed by her truly entered space with the Polaris Dawn mission and floated in a zero-gravity environment. For her, this was not only a design brought to life but also a tangible expression of her dream.

During this time, she continued to engage in charitable activities, aiming to help other children with illnesses and donating proceeds from related merchandise to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

However, tragedy struck in the latter half of 2024 when Liv's cancer relapsed and began spreading to her lungs, bones, and brain. Despite attempting various treatment options, including surgery, immunotherapy, and clinical trials, her condition continued to deteriorate.

In January 2026, Liv entered hospice care with her family by her side and passed away on January 14th at the young age of 15.

Even in the final stages of her life, she remained concerned about space, her friends, and family, never letting go of a simple wish—to meet Elon Musk, whom she had always admired.

Initially, Musk had agreed to meet her on the next Starship launch and had attempted to arrange a call during her worsening condition. One evening, the family received a message that Musk could be contacted that night or the next day. Due to the late hour, Liv simply said, "Let him call back tomorrow; I'm a little tired." The family later recalled this scene of her "standing up Musk," still bringing a smile to their faces.

However, the call the next day did not go through. She did not get to meet Musk or speak with him. The list of questions she had prepared for this meeting still sits by her bedside to this day.

Liv Perrotto's list of questions prepared for Musk

American Pundit Fuels the Fire, On-chain Meme Goes Viral

On April 17th, a user named Glenn Beck posted a meme, retelling this story, not only sharing the aforementioned list of questions but also directly tagging Musk.

Musk has promised to "come back immediately." This "signal" was quickly captured by the on-chain market.

Especially the last question, "Can you make Asteroid the mascot of SpaceX?" ignited the heat of on-chain related memes.

First, the on-chain Meme coin named ASTEROID on the SOL chain quickly rose to a market cap of $10 million. Then the ASTEROID Meme coin on the ETH chain also started to rise and quickly surpassed the SOL chain version.

As Musk confirmed early this morning that Asteroid will be designated as the mascot of SpaceX, the ASTEROID on ETH quickly broke through a $100 million market cap, currently sitting at $177 million.

The mascot theme used to be an important part of the Meme's composition. Over the past six months, the overall performance of the crypto market has been poor, with severe internal turmoil in the Meme field. Perhaps this grand scene has not been seen for a long time.

The rapid explosion of ASTEROID in just a few days is not only inseparable from this particular timing (earlier this month, SpaceX raised its IPO target valuation to over $2 trillion), but also smartly leveraged Glenn Beck's influence.

Are you curious why Musk publicly responded to Glenn Beck's "inquiry" months after Liv's death?

Although often criticized by the "objective news reporting faction," his storytelling has always been strong, and he has the ability to elicit Musk's comments.

On April 17, Glenn released a video titled "Glenn Reveals Trump's Chess Board for the Golden Age" on his main site, where he discussed various topics from the U.S. meat supply issue to leftist deliberate economic sabotage. The guest of this episode was Liv's mother, Rebecca Perrotto. They together reviewed the process of how Jared Isaacman, NASA's director, helped Liv's dream and the list of questions Liv posed to Musk.

Liv Perrotto and "ASTEROID," deserve to be seen by more people

Returning to the origin of the story, the "ASTEROID" in Liv Perrotto's artwork was originally just a design about space and dreams.

It was only when various external factors came together that a story originally belonging to an individual was amplified into a narrative that could be traded and disseminated. Regardless of ASTEROID's ultimate trajectory, Liv Perrotto will be remembered by more people.

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