Lego's in Space - Life IS getting interesting
 

Tell me somebody else saw this.
A go-pro strapped to a weather balloon carrying a Lego space shuttle goes into space ;) This is some cool stuff and I almost felt like I was about 9 again.

LOL OK ........ NOW I've seen it!

Someone with a lot of money was really really bored ...... or NASA is now looking at some pretty serious budget cutbacks ....

This is the original I think.

How high did the Legos get?

I'd be interested in how they actually got the go pro back. I'd bet it would have come down a looonnngg way from where it was launched.

From the clip description on Youtube:

Very cool... but space starts at 100km, not 35km :)

Well your are talking about leaving orbit. Many consider breaking the light level the start of space.

Not really. Orbit has nothing to do with altitude. Or more precisely "not much" to do with altitude.

Orbit means your horizontal velocity is great enough so that gravity alone cannot pull you to the surface of the planet. As such, vehicles like balloons do not "reach orbit" because they have no propulsion mechanisms to propel them horizontally. In theory Orbit can be obtained at any altitude, but on Earth anything below 200km or so is highly unstable due to atmospheric drag.

The 100km line is the "Karman line", which almost every country on the planet uses to mark the boundary of outer space, the point at which no winged aircraft is able to maintain altitude due to the atmosphere being too thin. The USA uses 50 miles (80km) which is the boundary between the mesosphere and the thermosphere.

This is all correct. You are referring Outer space. I was just saying the damn lego made it higher than anyone without a space shuttle is making it. That is pretty cool.

Not really. The common knowledge is that the current absolute altitude record for the conventional aircraft is held since 1977 by a modified MiG-25 at 37,650 meters.

Not sure what "leaving orbit" is supposed to stand for. Or what's its relevance in the current context. For example, ISS is in space, however it does not "leave orbit".

In any case, orbital flight is a matter of speed and speed only. Altitude is just a consequence of that speed. The only reason orbital flight is performed at space altitudes is that the absence of any notable atmosphere makes it easy to maintain the necessary speed.

The altitude that defines the "start of space" is a matter of fact, not a matter of someone's opinion. I.e. those "many", they simply don't get to "consider" anything in that regard. They either know or don't know.

I'm not saying it's not cool. It's pretty darn awesome. Interestingly enough that's higher than the real shuttles will ever get again as well.

But it's just not space.