Ben Grimm a.k.a. The Thing was an astronaut and former USAF test pilot. Grimm was exposed to high levels of cosmic radiation when his best friend, scientist Dr. Reed Richards took him and his friends Sue Storm and her younger brother Johnny Storm, into space in the stolen rocket; Marvel-1. The radiation mutated him and his friends, turning him into a super-strong rock like monster with a "Heart of Gold". Together they became the Fantastic Four, a team of adventurers who explored space, time, and alternate dimensions and saved the world along the way from science-based threats.