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Seven times people sent weird things to space

First donut in space

Once upon a time, traveling to near space was a privilege reserved for monkeys and dogs in Russian spacecraft. Now, people can send up just about anything with a weather balloon – and record the whole experience.

The most recent object to reach stratospheric heights was a doughnut, sent up by Norwegian hobbyist group Stratolys last week in a bid to be the ones to send the first doughnut into space.

It’s getting pretty tough to be the first anything in space these days, as it seems like every week, we’re seeing more inanimate objects getting a view of the Earth that many of us could only dream of.

Here’s a look at some of the other wacky things that people have sent where no doughnut has gone before.

First GoPro HD Hero

This one isn’t weird, but it does make the list for allegedly being the very first GoPro device sent into near-space using a weather balloon (two devices, actually). Recorded by a group of engineering students in California, the launch took place on June 5, 2010. It kicked off five years of people hooking stuff up to high-altitude balloons and attaching cameras to record the flight.

Toy Robot

A few months after the California team launched their balloon, James Trosh of London, England helmed Project Edgar, which sought to send up a robot, Edgar, and film the process for the music video ‘Edgar’ by Lucky Elephant (seen above – skip to 2:20 if you just want to see Edgar head towards outer space).

Rob Ford (bobblehead)

The real former mayor of Toronto has never been to space (that we know of) but when bobbleheads of his likeness went on sale to raise money for United Way, some budding space explorers opted to send the Robby Bobby up with a camera.

Canadian Lego Minifig

A pair of Toronto teens sent this Lego Man into space, proudly bearing the Canadian flag. Mathew Ho and Asad Muhammad attached a camera to their rig, as well as a GPS-enabled cell phone to locate it again once it had returned to Earth.

Lamb Chop

In order to promote a new book, appropriately titled Meatspace, Nikesh Shukla and Nick Hearne sent up a hunk of meat from the Cotswolds in England. Unfortunately, their GPS on the rig froze, and they were unable to locate the lamb chop, and more importantly their GoPro with the footage once it fell back to Earth. It had been picked up by a local farmer, who took the "finders keepers’ approach, and only gave up the camera after police involvement. Four months later from launch, the pair had their video.

Sushi

Another marketing stunt, another food shot into space (well, gently lifted with a balloon). Chain restaurant Sticky Rice artfully arranged some of their restaurant offerings on a plate, attached a camera, and off it went. It took six months of planning, including how to keep the sushi holding together in high winds, but they managed to carry off the stunt without a hitch.

Follow Tori on Twitter: @Floyd_Tori