A teacake on a table is unlikely to cause much of a stir on social media. But send the teacake up into space and it becomes an internet sensation. That is what happened to a Tunnock’s Teacake which along with a camera was attached to a hydrogen weather balloon and sent 21 miles up into space. The tasty snack was launched from Glasgow Science Centre in Houston, Renfrewshire as part of a project to get people interested in science and technology. If the 33,000 views of the teacake’s space voyage on Facebook are anything to go by, it was a resounding success. And if that wasn’t enough the icing on the cake was that it was even given a name, Terry. Basking in Terry’s new found success, the GSC is hungry for more and intends to give “another one of Scotland’s beloved treats the science treatment”. As Dr Stephen Breslin, chief executive of Glasgow Science Centre, said: “We engage people with space science every day, and we thought what better way to spark people’s imaginations and interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) than for us to launch something into space ourselves. We are delighted by how many people joined us at GSC, and online, to watch Terry’s space adventures.” As for what happened to Terry, after travelling one hour 29 minutes to reach a peak altitude of 37,007 metres, it took 40 minutes to come back down to Earth eventually landing in a tree in Galloway Forest Park. According to the team, “Terry was pretty intact”. Hmm but for how long…
