Featured Image Credit: BloonStu / YouTube
If you thought seeing our planet from outer space would break the bank, you'd be wrong.
Instead of leaving it to the professional space scientists at NASA, a YouTuber took it upon himself to see the views of Earth with a GoPro and a balloon.
People have been sticking their GoPros at some weird places recently - including America's deepest cave and the world's most dangerous river - but this has to be high on the list.
YouTuber BloonStu launched a GoPro into the sky with a balloon, taking it as high as it would go for an incredible view of space.
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And before you ask, yes, this was all legal.
He mentioned that he made sure to follow all Federal Aviation Administration regulations, adding: "A NOTAM [Notice to Air Missions] was even filed with Ft Worth center for balloon activity."
He started his adventure in Texas, where the balloon lifted the GoPro above the clouds.
As the camera climbed higher and higher, the view shifted from fluffy clouds to the curvature of Earth surrounded by the immensity of space.
A stunning sight for anyone except those astronauts who are up there for the long haul.
Eventually, the balloon reached its limit and burst. The camera flipped around, caught a glimpse of the Sun and began plummeting back down to Earth.
Although a parachute was deployed, it had little effect due to the low air pressure and density at such high altitudes.
"The payload is now screaming back down to Earth," BloonStu wrote in his video.
Luckily, the parachute proved more useful as the GoPro descended closer to the ground, eventually landing in a field.
Thanks to a tracking device, the YouTuber was able to recover his gear.
As for why he did it, he explained in his video: "Mostly, I had free time and needed a project/hobby to keep me engaged and secondly, space is neat."
People have been sharing their amazement of the footage since the video was released almost ten years ago.
"NASA is mad because this guy found a way to explore space for cheap," the first user replied.
"When the balloon popped and the camera flipped to face the sun, that may have been one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen," another added.
"Damn shows how small earth is. Like it's massive, but it isn't at the same time," another pointed out.
