An Echidna In Space!

Okay, so it’s not really an Echidna and it’s not really in space, but this was something that was worth covering.

What’s actually going on is Horus 49 – the launch of a high altitude balloon by the Amateur Radio Experimenters Group Inc. (AREG) for some radio experimentation. Pretty straightforward stuff, but this flight carried a passenger – a plush Echidna named Anstey. This was actually Anstey’s second flight, having taken another trip up previously.

Anstey is the mascot of the Tea Tree Gully Library, and is being flown on these flights as a kind of promotional mascot to catch the attention of children. Always good to see kids being steered towards science, especially concepts like radio waves, space, and related concepts.

The AREG blog post on the flight, http://www.areg.org.au/archives/208361, covers the details quite well, and while the radio science being done is interesting, our focus here actually is the video of the flight itself – it’s kind of cool to watch the toy sit there at the end of a pole rising higher and higher, eventually reaching 37 kilometers in altitude over South Australia before the balloon bursts, and the Horus 49 payload, along with Anstey, come tumbling back to Earth… and get stuck 8 meters up in a tree!

I do suggest you check out the above article, but if you just want to see a flying Echidna plush, here’s the video of the flight, as well as a video I found of the recovery!

This event took place on July 8th 2018 in the city of Tea Tree Gully, South Australia. Yep, quite a ways away from where I am, but still some news that made it my way (thanks to Prince Watercress for finding it!)

Enjoy!

Seriously, you have to just kind of love this.

https://www.facebook.com/ttglibrary/videos/1860406254047739/