Did you know the space shuttle once launched the Statue of Liberty into space? Actually, two of them - each 15 inches (38.1 cm) tall, made from copper removed during the original statue's restoration. That copper dated back to 1875-1884, but that's practically modern compared to the oldest piece of Americana to escape Earth's gravity.

John Glenn, the oldest person to fly in space at 77, took a 13-star flag used to identify General Washington and a 1993 reprint of Thomas Jefferson's 1801 'Manual of Parliamentary Practice.' Nice, but both were reproductions. Even the 15-star flag flown by Terry Virts in 2014-2015 was a replica of the one that inspired 'The Star-Spangled Banner.'

The real prize? A copper spike from the USS Constitution, aka 'Old Ironsides,' dating to 1797. It flew on Atlantis during STS-71 in 1995, the first shuttle docking with Russia's Mir station. A fragment of Constitution wood also hitched a ride on STS-31 with the Hubble Space Telescope. So the oldest American object in space isn't a flag or a manual - it's a nail. Because of course it is.