Nikon 300s DSLR sent to the edge of space and back

It’s not just astronauts who make their trips to space, it’s also DSLR cameras. In this case, a Nikon D300s was sent to the edge of space in a rather unconventional way - using a 22 foot helium baloon. This feat was performed by tech students, Erich Leeth and Terry Presley. The D300s camera was fitted with a Tokina 11-66mm f/2.8 lens. It was put into what was a beer cooler purchased from the local Walmart. The camera is expected to have reached a height of 1,00,000 ft. The craft is being called Cygnus and it took off roughly at 9:02am and it landed back to earth using a parachute close to two hours later. There was also a GPS-enabled phone onboard the craft, which could help determine the location of the camera.

To space and back

Once the craft reached its altitude, it clicked a number of photos, which can be seen on the Flickr set here. The entire experiment didn’t go as per plan. For example, there were issues with fogging up and frost and images went to waste. The entire plan and implementation was done in a matter of just 13 days. The two man team said that something of this type would normally take three to six months to complete.