Have you ever thought about how to drop an egg from space into Earth without making it crack?
It may seem crazy at first glance; however, a former NASA and Apple engineer turned YouTuber, Mark Rober, made it possible after his remarkable experiment: Dropping an egg from space and not leaving it to crack.
The Experiment of Dropping an Egg from Space without Making It Crack
The man behind this amazing achievement is Mark Rober, a former NASA and Apple engineer turned YouTuber.
He wanted to take a simple experiment that many of us did in school and push it to the greatest possible extent.
The experiment was described as the humble egg drop, where students were challenged to build a contraption that could protect a raw egg from cracking after being dropped from a certain height.
Mark wanted to take this challenge to the next level and his first idea was to drop an egg off the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
But with the possibility of someone building a taller structure in the future, he decided to go even higher and drop an egg from space instead.
The Journey to Space of the Egg
The former NASA engineer devised a unique plan involving launching an egg into space using a rocket attached to a balloon and ensuring a safe return to Earth.
The ingenious concept revolved around fitting an egg into a rocket and flying that up to space in a balloon to have it descend back to Earth and land on an exceptionally soft landing pad.
This careful landing would prevent the egg from breaking upon impact.
One of the primary challenges faced by the engineer, Mark, was safeguarding the egg during its journey to space.
He recognized the need to insulate the egg to prevent it from freezing in the harsh conditions of space and potentially cracking during the expedition.
To overcome this obstacle, Mark meticulously worked on implementing measures to protect the egg.
He used innovative techniques to insulate and secure the fragile cargo within the rocket, ensuring its preservation throughout the ascent and descent.
The Perfect Landing and The Miraculous Survival of the Egg
During the two-hour ascent to space, a clever mechanism was employed: twisting cords were tightly wound around the string attached to the balloon.
This method was intended to gradually bring down the balloon by increasing tension until the force ultimately pulled the string, causing the balloon to collapse.
However, as the entire contraption began its descent back to Earth at a rapid speed of 150mph, concerns arose.
The cords did not separate properly, posing a significant risk to the delicate egg inside. The potential failure to properly separate could have spelled doom for the egg.
At this time, all hopes rested on the egg-rocket itself. Its ability to propel itself to freedom and land independently was significantly important.
Fortunately, as the falling balloon neared the ground, the egg rocket successfully detached and made a nice land.
Mark then carefully opened the rocket's compartment and was overjoyed when discovered the egg was still intact after its adventurous travel.
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