British kids successfully launch Spudnik2 while NASA struggles with Discovery

by Steven Mostyn - Nov 19 2010, 09:37

While NASA continues to struggle with the launch of its cracked and leaky space shuttle Discovery, a group of science-loving schoolchildren in England have been busy sending a Santa spud towards the stars.

Dressed as Santa and positioned within the aptly named Spudnik2—an old two-litre plastic bottle fashioned into the shape of a rocket—the potato pilot was then attached to a camera-equipped weather balloon and launched skyward by pupils at Landscove Primary School near Ashburton in Devon.

The collection of knee-high mission controllers followed Spudnik2’s progress for over two hours as it rose to a height of 90,000 feet (approx. 17 miles) before the balloon failed and Santa spud successfully guided his craft back to Earth beneath a deployed parachute.

Using a GPS tracking system to recover the vessel, teachers and pupils eventually located Santa spud some 140 miles away in Hampshire—where he had reportedly set down in a Christmas tree plantation.

With Santa spud safely back on terra firma, the recovery crew were also thrilled to find a collection of amazing photographs of the planet gleaned from Spudnik 2’s camera as it recorded the journey up to the outer edge of Earth’s stratosphere.

Meanwhile, the launch of Discovery has been delayed yet again after engineers uncovered more worrying cracks in the external fuel tank the shuttle is perch upon during blast off.

Although repairable, the new series of cracks are the latest in a long line of problems to beset the mission, which has now been pushed back to December 3 following inclement weather conditions and multiple gas leaks.

Initial fractures were found last week during a round of repairs to the external fuel tank’s foam insulation.

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