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Launching a Skateboard to Space, LOL

Yes, the 121C team actually sent a skateboard to the edge of space! Inspired by the record setting space jump of Fearless Felix Baumgartner, we lofted our prototype carbon fFFB jumpiber Rover skateboard high above California’s Mojave Desert with a helium balloon.  We recorded the event with a VR camera rig provided by USC student Tong Liu. You can share this experience in VR on your smartphone and even buy the board from our Kickstarter.

You can experience the flight of the rover in VR on your iPhone or Android device while 121C spokesperson and former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría provides a compelling narration. “Mike LA” relates what your viewing to his experiences during Soyuz launch to the International Space Station.

Skate Space 1

Be sure to look straight up at 1:50 – 2:00 to watch the balloon explode as the Earth’s thin atmosphere gives way to vacuum. It’s very cool. Then watch out! As our parachute deploys, the spinning that results may challenge your equilibrium and your stomach.

PLAN, PREPARE AND TEST!

Getting everything ready for launch required some serious planning and preparation. Before setting out for Mojave, we assembled the perfect Rover with Shark Wheels and Randal Trucks. We added the avionics at the USCPrep for launch rocket lab. The complete rig included: a large weather balloon, a parachute, line for the balloon, a six camera VR rig, a pole to attach the skateboard to the VR rig, a SPOT GPS tracker and a set of auxiliary USB batteries for the cameras. We also insulated the cameras against the cold.

FILL UP ALONG THE WAY AND GET A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP!

On the way out to Mojave, we stopped off in Palmdale for a little late night rocket fuel and arriving pretty late, we checked into a charming Mojave, CA resort.

KK Motel

As tempting as it was to stay at this fabulous desert resort, we had to head out before dawn in order to get our launch in before Mojave’s notorious winds picked up.

USE THE RIGHT TOOLS!

Using our online balloon flight prediction system, we selected an argearea just off the highway 14 near Red Rock Canyon Mojave as the best launch site. It’s a dramatically beautiful area in the early morning light. Our support equipment included a 4×4 Ford F250 filled with tools, an industrial cylinder of helium, our tracking app equipped smart phones and a dirt bike for the recovery search operation.

VERIFY!

Being the careful engineer he is, Ryan insisted on conducting a scientific quality test on the gas.

After his Donald Duck impersonation had confirmed we had indeed purchased helium, we proceeded with the fill procedure, being extremely careful not to puncture the balloon. We had a spare latex balloon, but our shot fill-smrequired pretty much the entire cylinder of gas and we couldn’t afford to blow off much of it.

With the balloon filed, we tied off the end and began to attach the rig. The lift from the balloon was dramatic and made our arms sore just holding it.

Ballon Fill-sm       ready to launch-sm

LAUNCH!

Ready to go, we phoned the local FAA tower and reminded them of our launchtake off (we’d connected with them earlier to make sure we were in compliance) and advised them of our anticipated flight path so they could notify local air traffic. Tong got the honors of releasing
the unusual craft. When he let go of the Rover we saw the ballon, the skateboard and $2,500 worth of Tong’s photo gear rise swiftly into the sky! (that’s why we made him do it, LOL).

TRACKING!

For the next hour we chased our rig across 60 miles of desert, following the location updates sent to our phones viRover flt mapa the SPOTs satellite uplink. Those only came every 10 minutes, so it was sometimes a bit of guessing game which way to go.

 

RECOVERY!

Recovery turned out to be disappointingly easy! The rig landed within a couple of miles of our target, just off Hwy 395 near Kramer Junction – you may have stoppedYaay there if you’ve driven to Mammoth Mountain to board and ski. The final GPS ping location led us right to the Rover laying on its side on some bare level ground, just a short walk off a dirt road. We unfortunately had no excuse to get out the motorcycle! (Absolutely no desert tortoises were disturbed in the making of this film.)

The Rover skateboard was in perfect condition and much to Tong’s relief the VR rig and the six cameras were in great shape too. One of the SD memory cards had ejected from a GoPro on landing – but there was no loss of flight video. As you can see from the footage we reached the edge of the space, where

little planet full the thin shell of atmosphere wraps around the curve of the Earth and sun is white in a darkening sky. The cool “little planet” effect – created by stitching together an ultra wide angle view from the GoPro VR rig – dramatically exagerates that!

 

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Lunch was had at Kraemer Junction’s finest dining establishment: The Astroburger! We were pleasantly surprised that we were seated promptly despite our lack of reservations.

Atroburger

Where, after a hilarious chase back and forth across Hwy. 395, some running around the desert and a few bites on the hands, we managed to rescue this lost dog – obvAstro Dogiously named “Astro.”

 

With the mission accomplished, it was obviously time to go skate the trench over by the Mojave power distribution facility.

TRENCH

 

BUY THE BOARD!
The actual first Skateboard in Space is hanging in our production facility now. If you would like to own this unusual bit of history and topic of conversation, you can Recoverypurchase it on our Kickstarter campaign! Just scroll all the way to the bottom and be the first pledge of $2,500 by the deadline of July 30. This complete Rover skate board is in remarkably perfect condition after the flight – it has a small circular hole in the middle of the deck where the mast for the VR rig attached.

 

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We Get Letters!

Thank you so much for my 121C Board. It is everything that I thought it would be. It is such amazing quality and greatly exceeded my expectations.  I found your company while I was searching the Internet for a gift for my boyfriend. He is obsessed with things that are made out of carbon fiber. He is also an avid skateboarder so naturally I searched for a carbon fiber skateboard. I wanted to find a skateboard deck that was completely made out of carbon fiber.

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After searching through many cheap “carbon fiber decks” that were actually a sticker that looks like carbon fiber on a wood board, I finally came across 121C Boards.  I read all of the information on the website and watched all of the videos and immediately knew that this was what I wanted to give him. Naturally I gave it some time, searched the Internet more and could not find anything that compared to this product. I then purchased the Space Inspired Aileron board. Living in Louisiana, we do not have many quality skate shops like we are used to having from when we lived in California.

 

He was extremely excited to have a quality board again. All of our local skate friends love this board and have all tried to buy it off of him! I hope to one day be able to get another one for myself but for now I will just have to let him have all the fun. I have been highly recommending your company to everyone that asks about the board. Thank you again for developing such a unique and functional board! Cannot wait to see what you all develop next! We will definitely keep following 121C boards! Best of luck in all of your future endeavors!

– Cassidy Sims, Lafayette, LA