Schoolkids launch potato dressed as Santa into space

LONDON - A bunch of children in a British village sent a potato dressed as Santa Claus into outer space.

The enterprising school children made a spacecraft, which they called Spudnik. It was prepared from a two-litre plastic drink bottle and then tied to a helium weather balloon. A camera was attached to it, The Sun reported Friday.

The potato - sporting a white beard and red bobble hat - was placed in it and launched from the village car park.

The balloon soared 17 miles, which was high enough to see the curvature of the Earth.

After reaching outerspace, the balloon burst and the contraption floated back to Earth on a parachute. It landed 140 miles away near Basingstoke, Hants, after a flight that lasted two hours 20 minutes.

It was found by students from Landscove Primary, Devon, using a GPS tracking system.

“It may seem like a mad idea, but it was a unique project,” headteacher Robin Smith was quoted as saying.