Raul Oaida, 18-years-old, attached a LEGO shuttle, a video camera and a GPS tracker, to a huge helium balloon and sent them into space. Oaida says flight time was just about three hours and the shuttle reached an altitude of 115,000 feet before heading back to Earth. According to Oaida, designing the spacecraft wasn’t so hard (compared to the jet engine he designed and built before this) but getting a flight clearance was.
Credits
Video from Raul Oaida, additional editing by Flora Lichtman, music by SYNTHAR
Meet the Producer
About Flora Lichtman
@flichtmanFlora Lichtman was the host of the podcast Every Little Thing. She’s a former Science Friday multimedia producer.