Earlier this month, Samsung Europe released a high-altitude “SpaceSelfie” balloon with the aim of allowing people to grab pictures of themselves in front of a backdrop of black, starry space. Unfortunately, however, the high-altitude balloon only managed to stay in the stratosphere for a few days before making an early, unscheduled landing on a horse farm in Michigan. No people or horses were harmed, but countless Insta likes have probably been lost forever.
One of the residents on the farm, Nancy Welke, posted a video of the SpaceSelfie wreckage to Facebook (above, via Gizmodo), noting that “this baby fell out of the sky and landed in our yard.” Surveying the lunar lander-like body of the balloon, Welke added “thank God there’s no horses out or it didn’t hit the house.”
According to Samsung UK, the high-altitude balloon launched from South Dakota was supposed to float along in the stratosphere until October 31, but obviously fell short of that goal, crash landing five days early. The balloon’s mission was intended as a PR stunt for the Galaxy S10 5G phone, which was strapped to the metal contraption part of the balloon and would’ve provided the screen on which people’s selfies would be displayed.
Samsung launched the SpaceSelfie balloon with help from actress Cara Delevingne ( Carnival Row, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets), who was the first to send her selfie to the S10 attached to the balloon rig. Samsung dubbed Delevingne’s selfie “the world’s first selfie sent to space,” which may technically be true. Although the first selfie taken in space belongs to Buzz Aldrin.
Samsung told NBC News that there was always going to be a planned descent over the U.S., although “weather conditions resulted in an early, soft landing in a selected rural area.” It’s unclear if Samsung plans on sending another SpaceSelfie balloon into the stratosphere, but in the meantime, there are plenty of other amazing events going on space—above the stratosphere—worth keeping an eye on.
What do you think of this unscheduled landing of Samsung’s SpaceSelfie high-altitude balloon? Do you wish you had managed to snap a picture of your selfie in “space” or are you waiting until you can actually make it into orbit so you can follow in Buzz’s footsteps? Let us know in the comments!
Feature image: Nancy Welke via MLive