A teenager has paid his own tribute to the defunct NASA shuttle programme by sending a Lego version of the craft into space.
Raul Oaida built the tiny replica spaceship from the famous building blocks in just three days, gluing the Lego bricks together and attaching the toy shuttle to a helium balloon which took it 22 miles towards the edge of space. The 18-year-old Romanian also attached a parachute to the vessel along with a GPS navigation system and an on-board camera to record the flight. The video footage shows the Lego model climbing through clouds and eventually soaring high above the Earth with ice particles forming across the toy. The mini shuttle was launched from Germany and spent three hours withstanding 320mph winds on the edge of space before landing in a field 155 miles away from the launch site without a scratch. While the US might have spent £124 billion putting shuttles in orbit, Mr Oaida's expedition was distinctly low budget costing just £1,600.
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