Going to space in a balloon [vid]

Tired of continually hearing that space tourism is “just over the horizon,” MatadorU student Mike Dewey and a team of space enthusiasts decided to build their own spacecraft using household materials, a mobile phone, a couple of GoPros, and a weather balloon.

This isn’t the first time enthusiasts have taken matters into their own hands, but every time it’s done by someone not funded by NASA or some mega-corporation, it brings us a step closer to space access for everyone. Maybe, someday, it will be me soaring to the edge of space in a capsule tethered to a balloon invented by one of the guys in this video.

Sounds like the magic of grassroots innovation…as long as the descent portion of the journey is as well thought-out as the ascent.