I can’t move a Lego from the kitchen to my living room without it breaking, and yet someone just sent one almost into space and back. Appropriately, it was the Project Hail Mary Lego set, and the feat claimed a certified Guinness World Record.
The stunt was done by a company called Sent In Space. It took the set, which is incredible, and you can see more of here, strapped it to a balloon-powered platform, complete with a camera, and blasted it up, up and away. You can watch the entire journey here.
So the set made it 114,790 feet (or 34,988 meters) above Gwynedd County in the United Kingdom. That’s almost 22 miles (35 kilometers) straight up. According to Guinness, the set then stayed up in the air for over eight hours before coming back to Earth, hence the record for “Highest Altitude Launch and Retrieval of a Lego Set.”
And yet, as fun as this is, and as beautiful as the video turned out, we still have one lingering question. Does the launch and retrieval record mean the set has to be retrieved intact? Because, as I only half-jokingly alluded to above, moving a Lego can be a very precarious thing. I’ve broken the Lego Millennium Falcon more times than I’d care to admit. Even if you use the dreaded “Kragle” from The Lego Movie (aka Krazy Glue), you aren’t going to drop a Lego 22 inches, let alone miles, without breaking something. Even with a balloon attached,
That doesn’t make the stunt any less impressive, but come on. Sticking the landing would’ve made it more impressive, for sure. That thing totally exploded upon impact, right? It must have.
Nevertheless, you can read more about the journey over at the Guinness website and read more about the Project Hail Mary Lego here. The film is still in theaters.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
