In 1783 a Frenchman by the name of Jean Pilâtre de Rozier made mankind’s first balloon ascent. He flew for five and a half miles at an elevation of 500 feet. It was in 1903 that the Wright brothers made their historic flight from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in 1947 in his Bell X-1 research plane and fourteen years later Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human being to journey into outer space.
Science Museum Oklahoma is set to add another milestone to this list of firsts. Tomorrow, Friday May 6th, at 12:15 PM Otto-Matic will become the first robotic mascot from Oklahoma to be launched to the edge of space. Otto’s trip will take him to 100,000 feet above the earth and his trip will be captured on video as part of a documentary created to teach the science behind balloon flight. This film will be made available to educators across our great state with instructions on how students can reach for the stars themselves.
We are T-25 hours to liftoff. Keep checking back as we update you on Project OTTO.
