Jack White became the first man to successfully launch and play and vinyl record in space. But aside from celebrating the 7th anniversary of his label Third Man Records, White said that the project was meant to inspire creativity.
White, more popularly known as the vocalist of The White Stripes, commissioned the project in 2012. He enlisted the help of his friend Kevin Carrico, an engineer, to build the Icarus Craft to carry a turntable.
However, due to the harsh environmental conditions in space, the project wasn't as simple as attaching the device to a high-altitude balloon. In order to protect the vinyl from the stratosphere's high temperature and vacuum, Carrico applied gold plating on its surface. He and his team also tweaked the construction of the turntable to shield the vinyl from direct sunlight, Engadget reported.
After working on the project for around four years, White, Carrico and members of the Students and Teachers in Near Space finally launched the Icarus Craft on July 30. As the craft flew, its turntable played a recording of the song "A Glorious Dawn" by John Boswell. The onboard vinyl also featured snippets from the audio track of scientist Carl Sagan explaining the various facets of the universe.
It continued playing for around 80 minutes and reached a maximum height of 94,413 feet before the balloon carrying the Icarus Craft exploded. This then sent the turntable crashing back to Earth. The remnants of the craft were recovered in Marsing, Idaho.
According to White, the project was meant to commemorate the 7th anniversary of Third Man Records. Although the company was founded in 2001, White was only able to establish its headquarters in Nashville in 2009.
But aside from promoting his company, the singer noted that the purpose of the Icarus Craft was to inspire people to explore their creativity and imagination and to continue pursuing their dreams.
"Our main goal from inception to completion of this project was to inject imagination and inspiration into the daily discourse of music and vinyl lovers," he said in a statement according to The Guardian. "We hope that in meeting our goal we inspire others to dream big and start their own missions, whatever they may be.
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