Lego man launched into space
A pair of Lego men were launched to the edge of outer space by two friends who had crafted a homemade device.
Jon Chippindall and Ian Cunningham released their space camera - The Meteor - 17 miles into the Earth's atmosphere, reports Manchester Evening News.
Teacher Jon, 31, and entrepreneur Ian, 29, met while studying aerospace engineering at Manchester University and built the probe for just £250 in their spare time.
The Meteor was launched from Mold in North Wales after weather conditions and the closeness to Manchester Airport scrapped their original plans to set the balloon and camera off from Heaton Park or Altrincham grassland.
Within two hours it had reached 90,000ft above the Earth - three times the height of Mount Everest - before the balloon burst and the camera crashed back down.
The pair tracked the device's descent and gathered it from where it landed - 75 miles away near Chesterfield.
They discovered The Meteor alongside the two Lego men they placed on board in a farmer's field, with the camera capturing Jon's toy cadet 'walking in space'.
Jon told Manchester Evening News: "It was really exhilarating to know that this thing had been to the edge of space and come back down, and that the technology had worked as it was supposed to.
"It was real excitement and relief at the same time. When we launched it, we were a bit despondent for some time thinking it wouldn't come back; some people release them and never hear from them again."
Ian added: "We knew we would get some pictures back from space, but didn't expect anything as good as those.
"We're really chuffed."
-Ananova.com