# Lawn Chair Larry Would Have Been Proud

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawn-chair-larry-would-have-been-proud/510547>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [September 18, 2009, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawn-chair-larry-would-have-been-proud/510547 "2009-09-18T03:46:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawn-chair-larry-would-have-been-proud/510547/1 "2009-09-18T03:46:37Z")

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This is the stuff that geek dreams are made of. For a total cost of about 150 bucks, two MIT students sent a cheap consumer digicam to an altitude of nineteen miles in a Styrofoam cooler attached to a helium-filled weather balloon:

[MIT Students Launch a Near-Space Camera for $150](http://www.malibumag.com/site/article/mit_students_launch_a_near-space_camera_for_150/)

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**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawn-chair-larry-would-have-been-proud/510547/2 "2009-09-18T04:42:19Z")

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A styrofoam cooler can withstand a 19 foot drop?

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**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawn-chair-larry-would-have-been-proud/510547/3 "2009-09-18T05:08:17Z")

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I was wondering about that myself. I first heard about it this afternoon while watching the 4:00 o’clock news, and my first thought was “how did they get the camera back?”

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**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawn-chair-larry-would-have-been-proud/510547/4 "2009-09-18T05:19:19Z")

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They monkeyed with the aerodynamics of the cooler till its terminal velocity was slow enough for the camera to survive impact, I’d expect. Shouldn’t be that difficult to achieve.

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**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawn-chair-larry-would-have-been-proud/510547/5 "2009-09-18T05:21:42Z")

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They used a parachute. Besides that, their limit was apparently 4 pounds of payload to comply with FAA regulations. Four pounds in something the size of a styrofoam cooler would fall pretty slow anyway.

Epic. Awesome. I’m amazed at the ingenuity here.