Space & Astronomy

Star Wars fans send X-Wing in to space

By T.K. Randall
April 30, 2015

Image Credit: NASA While the events of the Star Wars saga remain firmly rooted in the realms of science fiction, two ambitious fans have succeeded in bringing at least one aspect of the films in to the real world by launching a model X-Wing fighter in to orbit around the Earth.

Matt Kingsnorth and Phil St. Pier attached the model spacecraft to a high-altitude weather balloon along with a camera and launched the whole thing in to the stratosphere where they captured some impressive footage with the sun and the Earth in the background.The rig managed to rise to an altitude of 118,000 feet ( 22 miles ) above the planet's surface.

It later emerged that the intrepid duo, who spent six months and $1,840 building the project, were hoping that the stunt would net them tickets to The Force Awakens premier later this year.

The video they recorded of the X-Wing in space can be viewed below.


Source: Space.com

Tags: Star Wars, X-Wing