We’ve got a dad of the year nominee, folks! Meet Ron Fugelseth, a guy who gave his son’s favorite train, Stanley, a trip to space. We’ve seen stuff hit space before but nothing has been as touching and aww-inducing as this.
Fugelseth built the rig that floated into space with a weather balloon, styrofoam box, video camera and an old cell phone for GPS. Stanley, the train, was attached to the outside of the rig and is the star of the entire show. The balloon (and Stanley) floated 18 miles up in the air before the balloon burst and landed back onto Earth—27 miles away from where they launched it.
The best part of the video is when father and son go looking for Stanley (who landed in a corn field). The pure joy on the 4-year-old’s face is unadulterated awesomeness—he’s so happy that his favorite toy got to go to space and that he got home safely. I love it. [YouTube via PetaPixel]
