Antioch, CALIFORNIA – A seventh grader has launched a Hello Kitty toy with a weather balloon into space.
Lauren Rojas of Antioch, California, sent her Hello Kitty doll more than 90,000 feet into space for a science project. Footage of the doll’s journey to the final frontier is catching quite an audience.
Lauren Rojas, 13, a seventh-grader at Cornerstone Christian School, recently sent the doll into space as part of a class science project, according to the Tri Valley Herald .
Lauren explained her project to the press, saying she mounted four small cameras to a Hello Kitty rocketship toy and attached a weather balloon . She released the toy and it flew around 18 miles, with the cameras rolling. The balloon was apparently airborne for an hour and a half before it burst in the thin air of upper atmosphere, and the rocket began a slow fall back to Earth.
Lauren had attached a GPS device which made it easier to find. Hello Kitty landed in a 50-foot tree about an hour’s drive away from its launch site. An arborist helped retrieve the rocket and its now-famous astronaut.
One small step for Hello Kitty, one giant leap for YouTube footage … and seventh grade science.
According to Yahoo News , Lauren’s father, Rod Rojas said:
“It’s been terrific how it’s sparking all this interest. It’s great because seeing all this, I think it’s sparked Lauren’s interest in science and pushed it that much further.”
Lauren Rojas stated:
“It’s been terrific how it’s sparking all this interest. It’s great because seeing all this, I think it’s sparked Lauren’s interest in science and pushed it that much farther. All the other kids were asking questions as well, so it’s sparking their interest as well.”
If a seventh grader can launch Hello Kitty into space, imagine what you can do.
This is real: 7th grader sends her Hello Kitty doll into space with a $500 science project. Iran is super pissed. bit.ly/129ewUv
— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) February 8, 2013
