Japanese Space Hamster Returns [* AC Friendly *]
looorg writes:
Japanese company launches hamster into the stratosphere as part of space travel experiment
PETALING JAYA, June 24 - A hamster has safely returned home after a trip into the stratosphere via a flying balloon.
The experiment was carried out by Japanese company Iwatani Giken as part of its goal to make space travel accessible to the masses.
The hamster was placed in an airtight plastic cabin and lifted off with a balloon at Miyakojima city in Okinawa on June 9, said the company in a recent media statement.
The cabin was monitored during the test flight to ensure that oxygen levels, atmospheric pressure and temperature were the same as on the ground.
The company added that a camera installed in the cabin showed that the creature was comfortably snoozing during its flight.
[...] According to The Hokkaido Shimbun Press, the firm's next experiment will be a manned test flight to a maximum altitude of 25 kilometres.
One small step for a hamster, one giant leap for hamsterkind. I wonder what stories he shares with his hamster buddies.
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