A group calling itself the Autonomous Space Agency Network launched a weather balloon high into the atmosphere carrying a message directed at President Trump in what it is calling “the first protest in space.”
A two-and-a-half-hour video posted to YouTube this week shows the weather balloon making its journey from Earth’s surface carrying what appears to be a mock-up of a tweet with the message: “@realDonaldTrump LOOK AT THAT, YOU SON OF A BITCH.” Technically not in outer space, the balloon reached the second layer of Earth’s atmosphere, called the stratosphere.
LOOK AT THAT, YOU SON OF A BITCHhttps://t.co/Vu7q2j8g1t pic.twitter.com/EU1obtes4q
— ASAN (@ASANspace) April 12, 2017
The message appears to be a reference to a politics-related quote from the late Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell, who was the sixth person to walk on the moon.
“You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty,” Mitchell said. “You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch.'”
ASAN says the balloon, which traveled about 90,000 feet above the surface, was done to “stand in solidarity” with the upcoming March for Science on April 22 that is being organized by scientists who are concerned about the Trump administration’s views on science. According to its Facebook page, ASAN says it is dedicated to promoting “community-based, DIY [do it yourself] space exploration.”
Watch the full video of the weather balloon launch below:
