We sent it on a mission to go out among the stars and tell us about everything we saw - but even its creators didn't expect it to get this far. The Voyager 1 Spacecraft has now passed the outer reaches of our Solar System and is drifting on through interstellar space; yet amazingly, it still manages to communicate with Earth.
Launched over 40 years ago, Voyager's original mission was to pass several of the planets close to Earth and tell us more about them, with radio and photographic records being obtained and sent back to Earth. Having done all that, and survived long past its expected obsolescence, it passed through the heliopause at the edge of the Solar System in April 2012, journeying onward, past the gravitational reach of the Sun. It still has some functionality, taking readings of particles and cosmic rays and sending them back home at regular intervals. NASA believe it will finally lose power somewhere around 2025.
To insure one’s house, one’s car or to underwrite a life insurance policy, that is common practice. But who would pay an insurance premium for his/her thumb, legs or smile? Stars, of course.
At the top of the ranking are the legs of Mariah Carey, worth 810 million USD: The diva became, in 2006, the Gillette brand muse for the advertising campaign «Legs of a Goddess». She then took out an insurance policy with London Lloyds to protect her legs, a decision that is far from being insignificant. Among its customers, the London insurer then included several icons of music, such as Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart.
David Beckham’s body insured for 195 million USD: European champion with Manchester United in 1999, David Beckham was in 2006 the most renowned footballer of the planet. In relation to his sporting activities, he took out an insurance cover for his legs. The huge amount paid for his insurance would reportedly exceed the 103 million USD disbursed by Real Madrid for the cover of Christiano Ronaldo in 2009. The fashion model would later extend his insurance cover to his entire body.
15 million USD in insurance for Kim Kardashian’s curves: The curves of Kim Kardashian are her number one beauty asset. The reality TV star, who is crazy about plastic surgery, has underwritten an insurance policy worth 15 million USD to protect her famous butt.
The culinary critic Egon Ronay assured his taste buds: The famous Hungarian culinary critic has insured his taste buds since 1957, for the amount of 400 000 USD. An original insurance policy which allows him to cover his sense of taste without which he will no longer be able to practice his job.