Doll into space: Hello Kitty lands safely after going 93,625 feet above earth

The doll that was launched into space returned safely to earth after a 93,625 feet (17.73 miles) flight. Granted, a doll that is 17.73 miles up is not really in space but in earth’s stratosphere which is situated between six to 30 miles away from earth. But for 12-year-old Lauren Rojas from Antioch, Calif., that high up might as well be considered space; and it is for many people.

According to the ABC News report on Feb. 11, 2013, Lauren’s doll who flew into space was a Hello Kitty doll that her dad had brought her as a present from a business trip to Japan.

After seeing a television commercial in which someone had tried to send a balloon into space, or even just high up in the sky, the 7-grader at Cornerstone Christian School thought that sending her doll into space would be even better than just sending a balloon.

With the help of her science teacher, Lauren was hoping to be able to test air pressure and temperature at high altitude with her doll’s flight into space.

After a month of planning and, as most kids do, with her dad’s help, the Hello Kitty doll was ready to take her trip into space.

“Lauren and her father mounted small video cameras on their rocket-shaped gondola to record Hello Kitty's journey. The balloon reached an altitude of 93,625 feet (17.73 miles). … There, the air was so thin that the balloon burst, sending Hello Kitty from the sky. It landed in a tree 47 miles from the launch sight.”

The equipment necessary for the doll’s launch into space was obtained from High Altitude Science in Colorado. The company’s website is displaying congratulations to Laura for the successful launch of her Hello Kitty doll into space and has posted a video of Hello Kitty’s 93,625 feet flight above earth.

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