11/16/2009
Armchair Ascends 98,268 Feet to the Edge of Space
In a stunt having nothing to do with Richard Heene, Toshiba has sent a chair to the edge of space for a new commercial. The chair, lifted by a helium balloon, was monitored by a ground crew using four GPS systems and was filmed by the cinematographer who shot Mamma Mia. According to Toshiba:
The shots were taken at a staggering 98,268 feet above the earth and the weight of the rig had to be carefully managed to a weight of no more than four pounds. The chair is made of biodegradable balsa wood by a company called Artem and cost about £2,500. It was launched 12 miles North-East of the town of Gerlach, Nevada. The temperature dropped to minus 90 degrees when the chair reached 52,037 feet. The chair took 83 minutes to reach an altitude of 98,268 feet where it broke and took just 24 minutes to fall back down to earth with the rig.
The commercial extolls the virtues of the company's LCD TV and the enhanced "armchair viewing" it provides. Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...
Posted 10:51 AM EST by Andy Towle in Advertising, Nevada, News, Space | Permalink
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Andy, there's no video...
Posted by: MikeinSanJose | Nov 16, 2009 10:40:09 AM
Just seeing those pics gives me butterflies in my tummy ... Are you going to post the video?
Posted by: Mike E. Perez | Nov 16, 2009 10:50:04 AM
HOLY CRAP!!
The last 2 seconds of the video...!
Posted by: MikeinSanJose | Nov 16, 2009 10:58:45 AM
Now my vertigo is all acting up and I have to take my pills.
Posted by: Pee Town | Nov 16, 2009 11:48:52 AM
fanfuckintastic! i wonder where the pieces and the rig ended up.
Posted by: nic | Nov 16, 2009 12:53:35 PM
Great idea....now I have to wear a hard hat in case of balsa wood chairs plummeting to the earth.
Posted by: Geoff | Nov 16, 2009 1:08:44 PM
Why did it break at that altitutde? high winds? wood became brittle in that cold? (Lack of) air pressure? I should have paid more attention in physics.
Posted by: hugo | Nov 16, 2009 2:02:02 PM
@ HUGO: I'm thinking the extreme cold combined with less air pressure. The cold makes the wood brittle and the lack of air pressure makes the tiny pockets of gas inside the wood expand.
Posted by: David R. | Nov 16, 2009 2:20:01 PM
Ah, they launched that out in the Black Rock Desert, home of Burning Man. The rig probably fell somewhere in the desert or nearby mountains.
Posted by: leschuck | Nov 16, 2009 3:29:07 PM
I felt lonely for the chair for some reason...I might be having my period. Poor lonely chair.
Posted by: john | Nov 16, 2009 4:01:22 PM
It broke because of the strain put on it during it's fall. The snapping sound was probably added in for effect.
Posted by: PatrickPATRICK | Nov 17, 2009 12:57:36 AM
Fucking waste.
Posted by: andy | Nov 17, 2009 8:27:44 AM