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High School Students Send Lego Man 24 Kilometers High

Posted by samzenpus on from the some-science-projects-are-better-than-others dept.

First time accepted submitter AbilityLiving writes "Two high schoolers have launched a Lego Man to 80,000 feet — three times the height of a jet — in a homebrew project that involved a few Ebay-purchased cameras, a giant helium balloon and a star-ship full of ingenuity."

8 of 115 comments (clear)

  1. They're in Canada. by Bovius · · Score: 4, Funny

    I glanced at the article and the first word was "Toronto". Apparently that's why this isn't a story about them getting arrested.

  2. Three times the height of a jet? by mark-t · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm pretty sure that jet aircraft are only something like 15 or 20 feet high, measuring from the base. 80,000 feet is considerably higher than three times that distance.

    If you mean to say 3 times the maximum altitude of most jet aircraft, say so.

    --
    File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
    1. Re:Three times the height of a jet? by badboy_tw2002 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Irregardless, for all intensive purposes its the same thing. We knew what he mint.

  3. I launched a GI-Joe once when I was a kid... by mark-t · · Score: 3, Funny

    In 1976, I found a compressed CO2 canister in my schoolyard. When I got home, being the aspiring evil genius that I was, I secured it with tape and contact cement onto the back of one of my GI Joe figures (the 12" ones, not the dopey little 5" ones), and then I used some pliers to cut the end off.

    I heard a small "woosh", and then I never saw it again. I have no idea how high it went.

    --
    File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
  4. Canadian Space Program by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's aboot time...!

  5. Re:It's been done by fotbr · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sending a balloon to 80,000 ft is not "into space". So far, no one has actually managed to get a weather balloon to exit the atmosphere. Actually doing so would be much, much more impressive than "kids stuck camera, gps logger, and random object in a styrofoam box and brought back pretty pictures".

  6. Re:It's been done by Digital+Vomit · · Score: 5, Funny

    You could use a balloon to cover much of the altitude, but you'd need some other means of propulsion to get it to leave the atmosphere entirely.

    Hmmm... What if you attached the whole thing to another helium balloon?

    --
    Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
  7. Re:It's been done by Mabhatter · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, they're still in high school... They gotta start somewhere.

    Frankly, they were irresponsible not to give their Lego dude (or girl) a helmet and air tank. Not to mention the OSHA violations being forced to stand on a ledge at 80k feet with no seatbelt or railings! I think the minifigures need some kind of union against these dangerous experiments.

    Lastly, did they make sure their guy wasnt on a no-fly list. He looks European... But with those foreign sounding names national security should have been contacted... They even took pictures of how many people they put in danger!!! At least they didn't attach the balloon to any sharks... Teens and science are just irresponsible.