A Chicken Nugget Was Just Launched Into Space (cnn.com) 36
A British supermarket celebrated its 50th anniversary by playing with its food — specifically, one lucky piece of breaded protein:
The grocery store chain hired Sent Into Space to launch the chicken nugget into space. According to its website, Sent Into Space is the "world's leading space marketing company, specialising in space-themed marketing campaigns and publicity stunts."
"From a site in rural Wales, the nugget traveled through the Earth's atmosphere to an altitude of 110,000 feet (that's 33.5 km) where it floated in the region known as Near Space," Sent Into Space wrote in a statement on its website. That would be 20.7 miles. The nugget spent an hour "floating" in space in low pressure and temperatures that can drop to -65 degrees Celsius, according to Sent Into Space... The nugget was launched near the company's headquarters in Wales in a gas-filled weather balloon with an auxiliary satellite tracking system and integrated camera support. The Irish News reported that the nugget descended at 200 mph, with a parachute deploying around 62,000 feet for the nugget's protection.
"From a site in rural Wales, the nugget traveled through the Earth's atmosphere to an altitude of 110,000 feet (that's 33.5 km) where it floated in the region known as Near Space," Sent Into Space wrote in a statement on its website. That would be 20.7 miles. The nugget spent an hour "floating" in space in low pressure and temperatures that can drop to -65 degrees Celsius, according to Sent Into Space... The nugget was launched near the company's headquarters in Wales in a gas-filled weather balloon with an auxiliary satellite tracking system and integrated camera support. The Irish News reported that the nugget descended at 200 mph, with a parachute deploying around 62,000 feet for the nugget's protection.
Sorry, no. (Score:5, Insightful)
Weather balloons don't reach space.
Nothing that floats within the atmosphere has any chance to reach space without attaching a rocket.
Sorry morons.
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The moronic nature of people never fails to amaze me. Even had this nugget reached space, it would still have been a stupid thing to do.
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"and people gave Elon crap for launching his roadster into space?"
I should hope so; that was even stupider.
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"and people gave Elon crap for launching his roadster into space?"
I should hope so; that was even stupider.
No it wasn't. They needed a sufficiently-sized test mass for validation of the rocketry and safety systems. While he could have sent up a 2T block of steel or concrete, there's nothing wrong with doing it a little more stylishly.
It probably would have been even more useful had there been even more instrumentation attached to it than what they did (to observe the effects of micrometeor impact and other chemical reactions to the organics), but there was nothing inherently stupid or wrong with doing it. And it
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This was a test of the new rocket. They needed to launch some mass into space, not anything functional. Musk launched an old Roadster as ballast.
BTW, it's in orbit around the sun so not likely to return to earth ever.
The less fun side (Score:3)
and people gave Elon crap for launching his roadster into space?
While it certainly produced some surreal image that was potentially worse because it was in orbit although they were mainly responsible and ensured that they removed it from orbit and fortunately that worked. We do not want some poor astronauts to lose their lives in a few years time because the International Space Station is taken out by a chocolate biscuit or bit of broccoli that some idiot launched into space for a laugh. Fortunately, these particular idiots didn't even get to space let alone to orbit b
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The Roadster is in orbit around the sun. Not likely to ever see earth again.
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and people gave Elon crap for launching his roadster into space?
While it certainly produced some surreal image that was potentially worse because it was in orbit although they were mainly responsible and ensured that they removed it from orbit and fortunately that worked. We do not want some poor astronauts to lose their lives in a few years time because the International Space Station is taken out by a chocolate biscuit or bit of broccoli that some idiot launched into space for a laugh. Fortunately, these particular idiots didn't even get to space let alone to orbit but as technology improves this is going to become a problem.
No doubt. The Voyager missions that have left our solar system and continue on into the vastness of space have a record of who we are and what our current level of understanding of nature is.
10,000 years from now an alien will encounter our first interstellar spacecraft and be intrigued. Then shortly afterward they will receive a chicken nugget and go WTF.
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Where No Nugget Has Gone Before
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At least our helium reserves are being depleted for something important to humanity, rather than just party balloons.
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helium reserves
We have plenty of uranium and thorium if we need to make more.
Party on!
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The Irish News reported that the nugget descended at 200 mph
Did it get hot enough to cook the nugget?
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Gee, I don't know, find a race car and stick your hand out the window at 200mph and see if it bursts into flame.
Nope. (Score:4, Insightful)
No Karman line, that nugget doesn't get it's space pin.
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They're probably going by this standard
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lol the units should probably match next time.
How? (Score:2)
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Screwed up my units there. My guess is they took 100km and thought 110,000 feet would do the trick. That or they hoped the similar numbers would fool people.
This is the biggest thing since (Score:2)
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Oh, yeah, how is your recovery going?
Is everything still... ok?
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This is why we can't have nice things (Score:2)
For all the problems in the world, environmental, economic, and to say nothing of food security for many, someone thinks the best use of resources is to grind a chicken into something that no longer resembles (or tastes) like chicken and then attempt (fail to) send it to out of space for marketing.
There are people who make the world a truly better place. Then there are marketing companies, and I'm sure most of them look down on this pointless crap too.
Cue hostile chicken alien race invading (Score:2)
On the other hand, maybe they don't find out and come down asking for more. Oh the lulz when they find out!
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On the other hand, maybe they don't find out and come down asking for more. Oh the lulz when they find out!
Kang: "How do these Earthlings taste . . . "
Kodos: "Like Iceland Chicken Nuggets."
Kang: "OK, then set the course for Iceland, Earth."
Stupid, useless story is stupid, useless (Score:2)
Step by step (Score:2)
Meatballs next.
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Just to be clear . . . (Score:2)
This says that they froze some poor rooster's nuggets off?
hawk
Spacey Pastry (Score:2)
Hum (Score:2)
Launched? (Score:2)
Leading? (Score:2)
There's more than one space marketing company? One is too many.
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Dude, when I applied here I thought it said spaced marketing company. But free nuggets, I'm in.