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Swedish Engineer's RC Plane Gets a Balloon Lift To Space

Posted by timothy on from the purely-awesome dept.

mask.of.sanity writes "A Swedish engineer has sent his radio controlled airplane to the edge of space using a weather balloon. It reached 33,100 metres before the balloon popped. The trip is captured on film and he has detailed the project in a blog. Amazing stuff."

3 of 90 comments (clear)

  1. I've always wanted to do this by MetalliQaZ · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I wonder how he tested the radio link. That would be the main technical challenge, I would think.

    --
    "Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
  2. Edge of space? by Somebody+Is+Using+My · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Not to dismiss this guy's accomplishments, but saying his model plane reached the "edge of space" is sort of like saying I've reached the "edge of the ocean" when I'm at Times Square in New York City.

    Typically, the "edge of space" is 100km up (the United States is a bit more lenient, and puts it at at around 80km up and you get astronaut wings if you make it that high).

    He hasn't even made it a third of the way there.

    Still neat, but it could have done without the hyperbole.

  3. All hobbyist should consider using hydrogen by slacka · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Where I live helium is ridiculously expensive. So I went with the much cheaper alternative, hydrogen. It’s also more buoyant, about 8% more. Which means a higher burst altitude as you can use less gas."

    Bonus points for using hydrogen instead of helium. Hydrogen is not dangerous if handled properly and helium is a scarce resource needed for many medical uses like MRIs.