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The Big Picture: Exobiotanica, a bonsai tree in space
This is "Exobiotanica Botanical Space Flight," the latest project from Japanese artist Makoto Azuma. In tandem with JP Aerospace, self-described as " America's Other Space Program," Azuma set out to create beautiful imagery by sending a bonsai tree and a variety of other plants to space, using giant helium balloons and custom frames as the method of transportation. The results of Azuma's Exobiotanica project, which had its starting point in Block Rock Desert, Nevada, were spectacular to say the least, showing us what it's like for organic life to go where most humans haven't. Simply beautiful. [Image credit: AMKK]
DIY unmanned airship soars 95,000 feet above Earth, lays claim to new record (video)
Are you entertaining dreams of launching your own private spacecraft? All you need is about 30 grand in your bank account, and lots of spare time. Last weekend, a company called JP Aerospace sent its unmanned Tandem airship 95,085 feet above the ground -- a height that, according to the company, establishes a new record for remotely controlled airships. In fact, JP Aerospace says this altitude is a full four miles higher than any other airship has ever flown. To pull this off, the team strapped its 30-foot-long aircraft with two balloons, and packed it with a pair of electric motors that manipulated the Tandem's specially designed propellers. It's a relatively simple method, and one that didn't exactly break the bank, either. All told, it took about five years and some $30,000 to launch the aircraft, as part of the company's Airship to Orbit project. The long-term goal is to use the Tandem or similar airships as a launch pad for rockets or other interstellar aircraft. No word yet on when that could happen, but you can float past the break for a brief video on the Tandem, coupled with a brief PR.
