A Samsung 'satellite' crash landed in Michigan, no big deal
It's easy to forget we live in a modern world where preposterously expensive technology is flying somewhere above our heads at all times. Until one comes crashing down in your backyard, that is.
That's what happened in Michigan on Saturday morning. Local residents Nancy and Dan Mumby-Welke heard a crash outside, and when they went to investigate they discovered a Samsung-branded machine that had seemingly fallen out of the sky, according to Facebook post from the Gratiot County Herald, shared by Nancy on Facebook.
The machine apparently belongs to Samsung Europe, and is part of a "SpaceSelfie" ad campaign for Galaxy S10 5G that offers people a chance to "get their face in space." It's not exactly a satellite, though, as some reports have mentioned.
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As Samsung's own description confirms, the SpaceSelfie mission involved launching a High Altitude Balloon tethered to a "payload box" carrying an S10 5G smartphone. After launch, the balloon carried its payload all the way up to 65,000 feet, which is the lower stratosphere of Earth's atmosphere.
Once it was in position, customers were able to submit selfies that would be beamed up to the flying Galaxy S10. The smartphone would then show the selfie on its main display while another camera snapped a photo of the person's face, on a phone screen, with outer space as the backdrop.
Look, I didn't come up with the plan. You can read more about it right here.
It's less clear what happened that led the payload box, which launched in South Dakota, to touch down in Michigan. The residents who discovered it also spotted a large balloon stuck in nearby power cables, so that's probably how the payload box ended up on the ground in someone's yard.
A Samsung spokesperson blamed the crash landing on unexpected weather conditions in a statement provided to the Detroit Free Press:
"Earlier today, Samsung Europe's SpaceSelfie balloon came back down to earth. During this planned descent of the balloon to land in the U.S., weather conditions resulted in an early soft landing in a selected rural area. We regret any inconvenience this may have caused."
Topics Samsung
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
