A famous fishing port has blasted a beloved savoury dish into space to celebrate its new status as UK City of Culture.
The famous ‘Hull Pattie’, along with a portion of chips reached almost 38,000 metres into the stratosphere tethered to a high-altitude weather balloon.
The aim of the NASA-style send-off was to capture City of Culture’s most famous dish in Hull, East Yorks., following the 8.55am launch on Monday (July 4).
The pattie, which is a deep-fried potato and onion cake, was launched from a site in Sheffield, South Yorks., and reached a height of over 123,000ft where temperatures fell to -50c and winds hit 150mph.
An on-board camera filmed the tasty expedition, providing some stellar footage and data, as the meal touched down in a field just outside Wragby, North East Lincs., at 12.18pm.
BBC Humberside radio station teamed up with the Royal Astronomical Society, the University of Hull, and local primary school Craven Park Academy, as well as working with Sheffield-based space company SentIntoSpace, to launch the meal to dizzy new heights.
The project launched in April when the station asked its listeners what items from Hull they would most like to send to the edge of space.
Some of the suggestions included a miniature Humber Bridge, a CD of Hull dialect – as well as a couple of surprising submissions including a number of listeners’ ex-partners as well as a miniature, waving model of the Hull-based politician John Prescott.
Martyn Weston, BBC Radio Humberside editor, said: “We’re over the moon that our wacky idea of sending an item from Hull into space has finally come to fruition.
“It’s happening at the perfect time too. Unless you have been living on another planet, you’ll know that Hull is celebrating its special year as UK City of Culture 2017.
“It’s our job to make sure the UK knows about this, and now, we’ve sent that message outer space in the form of a pattie.”
BBC Radio Humberside’s space mission took place to coincide with the National Astronomy Meeting being held in the city in July.
Sheila Kanani, Education, Outreach & Diversity Officer at Royal Astronomical Society, said: “Experiencing a space balloon launch is something the children will remember for a very long time and it could change their perceptions of what they want to do in life.
“They might decide they want to work in the space industry or feel inspired to study science.”