Kirk and Picard Went to Space in a Balloon
No, this is not the beginning of another Star Trek FFF. Trek fan Logan Kugler, for reasons that might seem mysterious to some, but clearly resound as “TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO NERD HAS GONE BEFORE” to others, constructed an elaborate balloon system that took a Kirk and Picard action figure up to the stratosphere. It’s far more complicated than it sounds, although it’s just as nerdy — and just as awesome, too. The Discovery Channel did the above bit on it. Hey, you don’t have to be a Trek fan to enjoy watching two action figures getting shot into space, all right? From one who knows.
About The Author
Robert Bricken is one of the original co-founders of the site formerly known as Topless Robot, and its first editor-in-chief, serving from 2008-12. He brought the site to prominence with “nerd news, humor and self-loathing” as its motto, raising it from total internet obscurity to a readership in the millions, with help from his savage “FAQ” movie reviews and Fan Fiction Fridays. Under his tenure Topless Robot was covered by Gawker, Wired, Defamer, New York magazine, ABC News, and others, and his articles have been praised by Roger Ebert, Avengers actor Clark Gregg, comedian and The Daily Show correspondent John Hodgman, the stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Rifftrax, and others. He is currently the managing editor of io9.com. Despite decades as both an amateur and professional nerd, he continues to be completely unprepared for either the zombie apocalypse or the robot uprising.