One giant leap for reptiles: Chinese firm blasts turtle into near space in step towards trips for humans
Company says it was the first time a live animal had been safely taken into near space and could pave the way for space tourism
A Chinese technology company this week claimed it had successfully launched a live turtle into “near-space”, marking another step forward in the firm’s efforts to sell space tourism to humans.
Shenzhen-based Kuang-Chi Group said it blasted the yellow-headed turtle, nicknamed “Little Cloud”, to an altitude of 21,000 metres inside a helium-filled craft. The launch took place from western China’s Xinjiang region at about 4am on Wednesday morning.
The craft landed safely at about 8.28am the same day, and the turtle was said to have survived the trip.
The company said it was the first time a live animal had been safely taken into near space, and that the trip paved the way for it to sell commercial flights to humans by 2018 or 2019.
A representative of Kuang-Chi Group said last year that its space tourism trips would cost about 700,000 yuan (US$105,000).
