First Rickroll in Space

Those pranksters from Zug have now gone to the edge of space, sending their own DIY satellite up to 89,000 feet above Earth, and doing a little Rickrolling along the way. They claim they have now pulled the famous prank on the entire planet. Hmmm, hopefully this wasn’t the source of the radio signals that caused ESA’s Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) probe to be “blinded from interference.” Surely strains of “Never Gonna Give You Up” could never do that….

The video above is a quick look at their balloon satellite launch and their results; here’s the whole story on Zug.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy has been with Universe Today since 2004, and has published over 6,000 articles on space exploration, astronomy, science and technology. She is the author of two books: "Eight Years to the Moon: the History of the Apollo Missions," (2019) which shares the stories of 60 engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make landing on the Moon possible; and "Incredible Stories from Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos" (2016) tells the stories of those who work on NASA's robotic missions to explore the Solar System and beyond. Follow Nancy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Nancy_A and and Instagram at and https://www.instagram.com/nancyatkinson_ut/

Recent Posts

Earth’s Old Trees Keep A Record of Powerful Solar Storms

Most of the time the Sun is pretty well-mannered, but occasionally it's downright unruly. It…

11 hours ago

New Supercomputer Simulation Explains How Mars Got Its Moons

One mystery in planetary science is a satisfying origin story for Mars's moons, Phobos and…

16 hours ago

The Early Universe May Have Had Giant Batteries of Dust

The largest magnetic fields in the universe may have found themselves charged up when the…

21 hours ago

The First Close-Up Picture of Star Outside the Milky Way

Like a performer preparing for their big finale, a distant star is shedding its outer…

1 day ago

Here’s What We Know About Earth’s Temporary Mini-Moon

For a little over a month now, the Earth has been joined by a new…

2 days ago

New Study Suggests Black Holes Get their “Hair” from their Mothers

Despite decades of study, black holes are still one of the most puzzling objects in…

2 days ago