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The Story:
On Aug 24th 2012 we sent my son's favorite train "Stanley" to space in a weather balloon with a HD camera and an old cell phone for GPS. He was recovered 27 miles away in a corn field. This video documents the journey from liftoff to landing.
PLEASE read below, it answers most questions I get emailed.
My 4 year old and Stanley are inseparable like Calvin and Hobbes. He's been attached to him since he was two, and they play, sleep and do everything together. I animated Stanley's face with After Effects and Photoshop to bring him to life how I imagine my son sees him.
Here's the first video I made of my son and Stanley when he was 2 years old, documenting the beginning of their friendship. I shot it over 5 months: www.youtube.com....
Music:
Young At Heart
By: Olive Musique
-Interviews---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Only In America with Larry The Cable Guy
Here we are on the Katie Couric Show on Sept 28th 2012: bcove.me/3f6rsyd1
And here's the link to the backstage video with us and Katie. Jayden is stoked on his new trainset! www.youtube.com....
-Quick note on safety-----------------------------------------------------------
I'm getting so many comments regarding safety that I think I should write a quick note to let everyone know of the precautions I took before launching Stanley into the sky.
First off, I called the FAA 15 minutes before launch (per their instructions) so they could make sure no planes fly into the flight path. I read and followed all their rules for weather balloon launches. It had a homemade radar reflector and a 3 foot parachute.
Second, the box was only 2 pounds and made of foam core, with a wooden dowel to hold Stanley in front of the camera. I spent two months monitoring the winds with this website weather.uwyo.ed.... to pinpoint the general area that he would land. For safely, I launched him from a location that I knew would bring him down into farm land. The prediction website was only 5-10 miles off, so he landed safely in a corn field, far away from any towns.
I didn't want Stanley to be a murderer. Plus I wanted to make sure my son got Stanley back. :)