Balloon in space...

[Rob Williams]

Alright, this is cool as hell:

Behold the view from 117,597 feet, taken on August 11, 2007 by a camera hanging from a helium balloon launched by a group of guys in Alberta, Canada. Called the SABLE-3 (Southern Alberta Balloon Launch Experiment #3), it was packed with a Byonics MicroTrak 300 APRS tracking device, a Nikon Coolpix P2 digital camera set to snap one picture per minute, and filled with enough helium to take it to the edge of the earth's atmosphere.

Just 2 1/2 hours later, the balloon reached its pinnacle of 117,597 feet—holy moly, that's 22.27 miles above the earth! At that point, the helium balloon burst and its payload parachuted safely back to Earth, where there were a few recovery teams close enough to see its soft landing. Cool pix, indeed!

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/balloon-...ure+taking-balloon-2227-miles-high-293245.php

 

[GeekGirl]

Yay team Canada!

 

[moon111]

Didn't the American's try something like this out? Only it involved an actual person and a lawn chair?

 

[Merlin]

Yes, but it was a pre flight into the Mercury project and it was in a sphere.
The Russians tried it and the person died from re-entry
( And now a word from Jim Nye the Science guy ))

Merlin

 

[Merlin]

Didn't the American's try something like this out? Only it involved an actual person and a lawn chair?

That will be in the movie " Jackass 3 "

Fun for the whole Family
Coming to a theater near you soon
Void where prohibited
Ca. residents may incure extra charges for fuel consumption
and....
Objects May Appear closer than the really are

 

[madstork91]

Yay team Canada!

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xtkkKhf38gM"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xtkkKhf38gM" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

I thought of family guy... and this quote from jen came into my mind... and yeah well...

 

[Rob Williams]

Heh, I loved that part of the show, if not for anything but the throwback to "The More You Know". Classic.

 

[madmat]

I wonder why they set the camera to only take pics every hour. I'd have went with every 15 minutes so I'd have got a good ten or more plus maybe one or two from the descent.

 

[Rob Williams]

I wonder why they set the camera to only take pics every hour. I'd have went with every 15 minutes so I'd have got a good ten or more plus maybe one or two from the descent.

The article notes that it was set to take a picture each minute.

 

[madmat]

Ah, then why so few pics posted I wonder...

 

[Rob Williams]

They just posted the most notable ones I guess. I agree though, I would have been interested in seeing the entire descent.

 

[Greg King]

Didn't the American's try something like this out? Only it involved an actual person and a lawn chair?

Silly Canadian, that was just some kids in the south, and it involved guns to shoot the space terrorists. Any real American citizen knows that. Silly Canadian.

 

[moon111]

Silly Canadian, that was just some kids in the south, and it involved guns to shoot the space terrorists. Any real American citizen knows that. Silly Canadian.

Actually it did happen, in California.
Lawnchair Larry

 

[Greg King]

"Larry hiked into the forest and shot himself in the heart on October 6, 1993. He died at the age of 44."


Shit

 

[moon111]

"Larry hiked into the forest and shot himself in the heart on October 6, 1993. He died at the age of 44."


Shit

When I read that, I was astonished because men don't shoot themselves in the heart. They mostly do headshots. So now I'm wondering... maybe old Larry was using his contraption to smuggle drugs? Then realizing he was spotted, dropped the drugs. Then later when the 'boys' finally caught him, brought him into the bush and did poor old Larry in.

 

[MakubeX]

Very cool experiment. So simple, yet the results are so awesome.

 

[madstork91]

rIIIIght... well for whatever it is worth... im wondering how you shoot yourself in the heart with a rifle. I am sure it is possible, but um... That's a lot of work.

This post took an unexpected turn to the morbid.

 

[MakubeX]

This post took an unexpected turn to the morbid.

True, so I just want to clarify. In my last post I'm talking about the OP's post about the balloon and the camera, not about shooting yourself in the heart.