In the summer of 2013 a group of Stanford students had the curiosity and creativity to attach a GoPro and a cell phone to a weather balloon. The plan was to send it all into the sky and see just what the tiny camera would return with. The plan was to use the cell phone’s GPS to locate their craft when it all came crashing down, launching from a location specifically chosen because it would provide reliable phone reception (can you hear me now?). They even covered all their bases with the FAA, getting clearance to launch at a time and location their balloon wouldn’t interfere with nearby air traffic.
The dominoes didn’t fall exactly as planned. For 98 minutes the balloon flew as high as 19 miles above the earth, traveling to the edge of space. It landed 5o miles from its original launch site where it hid from the world for two years. Ironically, a woman who works for AT&T found the phone and camera, bringing the phone to an AT&T store so the SIM card could be tracked.
As you can see from highlights of the footage captured on that journey into the earth’s stratosphere, it was all well worth the two year wait. Flying over the Grand Canyon on the edge of space can capture a pretty astonishing view of the world as we know it.
