OK, this one is just too cool for school. The G.I. Joe Field Manual V2 is coming out in a couple of months, (I just got the files to IDW last week!), so to celebrate Bill Forster, my co-author, actually shot Cobra Commander into space. Like, literally. Almost 20 miles up, 40,000 feet above the Armstrong's line, getting into the upper reaches of the troposphere. Check out our video here, complete with the curvature of the earth and everything.
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Jeff had fitted the craft with two wing-like panels that he
had hoped would stabilize the craft and channel wind in an effort to reduce
spinning. The panels served another
purpose. The foil lining would be picked up by nearby aircraft sensors and
would allow pilots to avoid crashing into our little experiment. Although FAA
regulations state that our 4 pound craft was well below the weight required to
use such tactics, Jeff felt it was worth the extra work.
Then one morning we drove four hours north of Los Angeles to
a dirt crossroads of some orchard fields. There we set up the weather balloon.
Using a huge helium tank we filled the balloon until it was a specific size
which was determined by a large Styrofoam caliper Jeff had constructed. At
which point the craft was connected to a small parachute which was then
connected to the weather balloon. I had the honor of releasing the Commander’s
craft and the payload ascended at such a rate that within seconds it was
difficult to see and then soon after it disappeared into the blue California
sky.
For the next few hours we followed the craft over miles
using the GPS and constant updates from Jeff and Jill’s father Jack who
monitored Cobra Commander from his computer at home. Once the balloon exploded
from the increasing expansion of the helium it fell back to Earth. The GPS
eventually showed no movement and we concluded the craft had landed. Traveling
completely through a town and into an industrial park we followed the signal
down a dirt road until we saw the craft’s yellow parachute lying in a dirt
field. We could immediately see that Cobra Commander was no longer attached to
the craft. Could he have fallen off before getting to the apex of the journey?
As we walked toward the payload we could see Cobra Commander laying just a foot
away. He had been thrown clear as the craft crash landed. Now he sits on my desk, I am fairly sure,
having been the only Cobra figure to travel 102,000 feet into the air.
Pretty awesome stuff, no?
Cobra Commander, in space. Tell your friends.