Spain shirt sent into space
Reuters - Saturday 10 July 2010, 12:28
MADRID - A Spanish national team shirt
was attached to a balloon and launched 33 kilometres up into the
atmosphere to celebrate their first qualification for a World
Cup final.
The Spanish company Zero 2 Infinity were moved to celebrate
Wednesday's 1-0 semi-final victory over Germany and honoured the
achievement at the 14th European Balloon Festival in the Spanish
town of Igualada the day after.
"It wasn't planned (to send a shirt) at first, but after the
victory over Germany we had space for a bit more weight on our
test flight and I thought it would be appropriate," founder and
CEO of the company Jose Mariano Lopez Urdiales told Reuters by
telephone on Saturday.
"I went out to buy a shirt but couldn't find one because
they were all sold out. I had to buy it off a guy in the street
who needed some convincing. I had to show him some photos of
what we did."
A photo from Thursday's flight, with the shirt suspended
above the earth, was posted on the company's website.
Zero to Infinity was set up one and a half years ago and is
developing balloons with the aim of being able to take people up
to get a view of the earth from the edge of space.
They see it as a cheaper and less environmentally damaging
alternative to rocket travel and hope to complete a manned trip
by 2015.
"We want to elevate people literally and emotionally," Lopez
Urdiales said.
"After watching the Spain match and seeing how it lifted
people in these troubled times, we thought there was a spiritual
dimension which fitted with our objectives."
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