Teddy bears launched into space
Friday, December 5 2008, 15:58 GMT
By
Sarah Rollo
A pair of teddy bears were launched into space on a budget of just £60 as part of a university science club project.
MAT and KMS, purchased from Mothercare, were subjected to temperatures as low as -35C in the four-hour mission, reports
The Telegraph.
The toys were carried 18 miles above the Earth on a weather balloon in the Cambridge University's Space Flight science club's project, while local schoolchildren made special space suits for the tiny astronauts. They helped ensure the bears' safe return to Earth, with the duo landing just 50 miles from their launch pad.
Aerodynamics student Henry Hallam, 21, said temperatures were monitored both inside and outside the suits. "It was still pretty cold for the bears but they would be frozen solid if they didn't have their suits," he said.
