Final Frontier: Sky News Sends Cube Into Space

Low-cost kits are allowing budding astronauts to send Lego, wedding rings and even arm chairs to the edge of our atmosphere.

Time lapse Of The Flight 

 

By Tom Cheshire, Technology Correspondent

Near-space ballooning is becoming increasingly popular, according to new figures from the Civil Aviation Authority.

There were 156 high altitude balloon launches in the UK in 2014 - a 57% increase on 2012.

Low-cost kits allow schools and citizen scientists to carry payloads to around 30 kilometres up in the atmosphere.

The helium-balloons rise into the sky, expanding until they eventually burst in the low air-pressure.

A parachute delivers the payload back to the ground and its GPS coordinates are transmitted over mobile phone networks.

Setting Up For The Flight

Sent Into Space is a Derbyshire-based company which sells high-altitude balloon kits and which recently launched a Sky News cube into near space.

Its co-director Alex Baker told Sky News: "It's really easy. We thought we'll put a camera on a weather balloon, track it down and see what happens.

"We found some foam in a scrap bin, we used this tracking device you're meant to strap to your cat to see where your cat is - we thought we'll develop the systems and do it properly, and be able to offer people something that's cheaper and reliable."

Sent Into Space had developed a black box to record a number of data points - including pressure, temperature, humidity and altitude.

But payloads aren't limited to scientific purposes.

Is It A Bird, Is It A Plane....?

Hamburgers, arm chairs, Hello Kitty figures, Lego figures, bacon, wedding rings and even a tandoori lamb chop have all dangled on the edge of our atmosphere.

And humans could be the next cargo.

Sarah Cruddas, a space journalist and astrophysicist, told our correspondence: "The hope is to do this by 2017 - fill a balloon with helium, have passengers on board, take it to a height of 36 kilometres and it's a near space experience for people.

"It's a safer and less risky way of getting people to the edge of space, because ballooning is tried and tested technology."