“Rugged case manufacturer G-Form sought to prove its hardware protection credentials this week, launching an iPad into space before letting it plummet to Earth,” Caleb Cox reports for Reg Hardware.
“The company wrapped an iPad in its Extreme Edge case and, using a weather balloon which bursts at altitude, sent it soaring toward the stratosphere,” Cox reports. “The slate made it above 100,000 feet before it started to rapidly descend, eventually crash-landing on a rocky hill in the Nevada countryside.”
Cox reports, “‘As far as we know, this is the first iPad ever in space,’ said G-Form’s VP of innovations, Thom Cafaro. ‘And definitely it’s the first iPad that’s ever free-fallen from space and survived to play more movies.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: First iPhone, now iPad.
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iPhone 4 plunges 1,000 feet from airplane – still works perfectly – March 23, 2011
Brooklyn Space Program launches iPhone into space (with video) – October 13, 2010
The fact that it survived a drop in that case is impressive, as that terrain was quite unfriendly. But that it survived severely extreme temperature in the air so rare you no longer see it (the darkness of space was clearly obvious) is nothing short of amazing (considering that Apple gives operating temperature range of an apparently very conservative 0 — 35C (and non-operating, storage range of -20 — 45C).
Based on the standard atmosphere table, the pressure at 100K feet (30.5 km) is only about 1.1% that of sea level – roughly the same as the surface of Mars. The temperature at that altitude is approximately -51 degF (-46 degC), although the low density of the air reduces the rate of conductive/convective thermal transfer and increases the relative contribution of radiative transfer with the Earth and space. The balloon also probably climbed fairly quickly at first, so the depressurization rate on the iPad was fairly rapid during ascent, and very rapid during the free fall descent.
Let’s try that test with a Galaxy Tab…
Damn. I bought the wrong case for my iPad!
Phew…I know what case I will purchase before my next outer space trip!
After reaching terminal velocity (whatever that happens to be in the ipads case) it won`t fall any faster.
Very dramatic demonstration though.
I just watched the video. The configuration put the assembly into a flat spin with the back of the iPad facing down. That was well-engineered to minimize terminal velocity and maximize the protection from the case. It was impressive, nonetheless.
Yup, that`s the first thing I noticed, I`m sure having the popped balloon acting as a drogue chute helped things a bit too. As a marketing stunt what sounds better? A device surviving a 40 mph impact (guessing) or a fall from “space”.
Extra “survivability points” for having a relatively low mass too.
Either way it is impressive.
Darn, I wish I’d had one of those on my new car when it got smashed five weeks ago. It’s still in the shop.
More impressive is the apparently unprotected GoPro camera that was still working when they recovered the iPad.
Apple’s iPad drops dramatically, Android and Windows tablets remain unchanged. In other news …
LOL
Drop it from the IIS and then I will say it fell from space.
The camera survival and the lack of “bounce” suggest low velocity. However, assuming the video from maximum altitude to final landing was unedited, the drop rate or speed could be calculated making another assumption of 100,000 ft.
See comments above about terminal velocity, etc.
Someone must not have passed physics 101.
I wonder why he didn’t actually use the ipad to show that the screen still responded to touch and that programs would still load. I’m a bit skeptical of the actual result.
You could see something on the screen before and after.
{sarcasm}
damn glossy screens – can’t see nothing on them in broad daylight!
{/sarcasm}
Hey Jeff!
Good point, although he claims it turns on at the start, and is still working at the end, I for one couldn’t see anything on the screen – it was just black all the time. A better quality of video may show it, but in this small YouTube clip, I couldn’t see it.
At 2:01 it is very clear there is the Walt Disney logo showing on the screen. A few seconds later is the Pixar logo. Clearly this is the beginning of a Pixar movie. If you couldn’t see that, you should check your monitor settings and/or eyesight.
… Must have been playing “Up”
Actually, it was “The Incredibles”
I understand that there was video evident on the screen but that in no way assures you that the screen would respond to touch or that the program could be stopped and a new one started. These are things that could be broken while the video would still be playing. I did not see him start the video after the fall either. Just sayin, it might be fine but inquisitive minds need more proof.
They should send every Playbook into space. And just leave them there.
P.S. If they really wanted to test the durability of their case, they could have just given it to my 3 year old niece.
Actually, in order to avoid adding further ‘space junk’ into orbit around Earth, I suggest we put every Playbook into a small rocket and fire it into the Sun. We can project the moment of impact from our solar telescope onto giant screens in Times Square and shoot off confetti cannons as the Playbooks flare into nonexistence. 🙂
But will it last 200 years buried in the rubble of a nuked city when alien archaeologists arrive to study the demise of mankind?
Let’s find out! . . .
Or the mutant inhabitants of said city will consider it some sort of altar to a malevolent god.
Strange how the video quality from the ground cam is pure crap, while the GoPro video quality from the balloon is HD quality? Couldn’t they afford another GoPro camera???
Would love to see this done again with the iPad actually showing a movie while on its journey and the camera repositioned to show a bit of the screen.
jeez, what a dramatic demo, that was just great.
Would have been more impressive if it landed on Eric Schmidt
+1 ding Dong the Witch is dead? LOL
I’d much rather it smite the samsung CEO. 🙂
LMAO! Great response, Buster!
I would like to see the same test performed with a BlendTec blender.
Let’s see what they will blend after being dropped from space.
My only question is the MDN title of this article is misleading. I read the full article and no where is there any mention of doing this test near Area 51. I even watched the video but no mention of Area 51. I would imagine that the Camo dudes would have already arrested these guys from G-Form and they would be the next topic on the Coast to Coast radio show.
OH come on. Let MDN have a little fun. Some one just sent an iPad into space and dropped it to earth and video’d the whole thing… just for us Apple lovers..
Its a fun day. !!
Just a thought.
Won’t the LCD freeze up and crack? Maybe that’s why it was playing a movie the whole time, to keep it warm.