A Chicken Nugget Was Launched into Space, Because Why Not

What will remain just a dream for most regular mortals became a reality last week for a piece of frozen chicken coated in batter, as it became the first chicken nugget to make the journey to and from space. That’s Near Space, not Outer Space, but it’s space nonetheless.

The feat was (of course) a marketing stunt, put together on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Iceland Foods Ltd., Iceland for short, a major grocery store chain in the UK, with help from marketing agency Sent Into Space. As its name clearly suggests, Sent Into Space is the place to go to if you want to launch stuff into space for publicity purposes and, while they launched food before, this was the first chicken nugget to make this historic trip.

A huge step for mankind, an even bigger one for the chicken nugget. To go where no other chicken nugget has gone before.

The launch took place outside the Iceland HQ in Wales, with help from a weather balloon and was duly documented throughout. You can see two videos of it at the bottom of the page. The frozen nugget reached altitudes of 110,000 feet (33.5 km / 20.7 miles) and Near Space, where it floated around for nearly an hour, no doubt taking in the amazing views. Because it was frozen, it was totally unbothered by the -65C / -76F temperatures. Or the amazing views.

The Irish News reports that, when the time came for the journey back, the nugget descended at speeds of 200 mph (322 kph), with a parachute deploying at 62,000 feet (18.8 km / 11.7 miles). It arrived back on earth in one piece, in case you were wondering.

“What better way to show that our products are out of this world than by sending one of our customer favorites into space?” Andrew Staniland, Iceland’s trading director, tells the publication. Indeed.