In the midst of so much international strife, coming together to save a wandering satellite full of frisky space-geckos is exactly the morale-booster the world needs, according to “Last Week Tonight” host John Oliver.
“Don’t you dare laugh at that,” Oliver exclaimed on Sunday night’s episode. “Don’t you dare laugh at the fact that Russia has lost a satellite full of sexually active space geckos.”
“This is like Apollo 13 all over again.”
Russia launched the experiment to monitor the sexual activity of geckos in space, but lost contact with the orbiting Foton-M4 satellite just days after launch. Reports last week indicated authorities were trying to re-establish contact with the lost space-geckos before they run out of food.
With the world caught up in crises across the globe in Ukraine, the Gaza Strip and the U.S.-Mexican border, Oliver and a host of celebrities (some with significant space experience of their own) are calling on people everywhere to band together and demand that Russian President Vladimir Putin “go get those geckos.”
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Russian media reported Saturday the country had re-established contact with the satellite — a claim Oliver dismissed as propaganda.
“How are we going to get them? I don’t know — I’m not a space pornographer,” Oliver said. “Maybe you’ve got some better ideas, and if you do, don’t tell me — tell Vladimir Putin.”