Take a customized 'space selfie' for Rs 50,000

If you want a space selfie near the curvature of the Earth, forget NASA. Two former engineering students from the University of Sheffield in South Yorkshire can do this for you in as little as Rs 50,000. Alex Baker and Chris Rose have been sending up “payloads” to the edge of space via customized balloons - including a diamond ring, toy cars and newspaper front pages. They use a digital camera, some off-cuts of foam and a giant helium balloon that goes 37 km up into near space. They have also sent dozens of family photographs in what they call the “ultimate space selfie”. They now offer a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) kit for customers to launch their own space balloons for less than Rs 50,000. They have a GPS tracking system to collect their payloads after they land. The duo use wind charts and meteorological data to predict the landing. They have even had talks with a funeral home about sending ashes into space, Independent reported. “We have dreamt of being astronauts since we saw footage of Joseph Kittinger jumping from a balloon in the 1960s - becoming the first person to see the curvature of the Earth,” Baker was quoted as saying. IANS