PetaPixel reports that four Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra units were sent nearly 23 miles above the Earth using stratospheric balloons. The latter are made from ultra-thin plastic and are filled with helium. They can’t be steered into the wind, so those hoping to send a balloon to a specific location have to find an altitude where the wind direction takes the balloon to the desired destination. Each Galaxy S24 Ultra was carried to its high-altitude destination by one of four balloons used for this endeavor.
Besides having its own Galaxy S24 Ultra, each balloon also featured a core flight computer. With a Galaxy S24 Ultra as a passenger inside a protective cage, each balloon soared to an altitude that was more than 120,000 feet (22.73 miles) above the Earth. That was about 40 miles short of the 62 miles that would be considered “Space.” During the ascent, the four Galaxy S24 Ultra units were snapping photos and they created over 150 high-resolution images of the Western United States. The Galaxy S24 Ultra units took photos using each handset’s Ultra wide-angle camera, periscope camera (delivering 5x optical zoom), and primary camera.
While the distance above the Earth did not technically take the phones into what we know as “Space,” it was higher than the altitude flown by commercial aircraft and even topped the altitude where the U2 Dragon Lady flies.
“To capture a diversity of landscapes that would truly put the S24 Ultra’s capabilities to the test,” as Samsung said, four different locations were selected to launch each stratospheric balloon. The four locations were Los Angeles, Las Vegas, the Sierra Nevada mountains, and the Grand Canyon. The four balloons were launched between January 25 and January 31, 2024.
Parachutes were used to reduce the speed of the balloon’s descent to five miles per hour. The location of each balloon was tracked helping the team behind the project quickly take custody of each one and remove the four Galaxy S24 Ultra units from the special cages they were placed in before each balloon was launched.
