Former NASA engineer turned YouTuber Mark Rober recently perfected the world’s highest egg drop, documenting his efforts in a now-viral video to see if an egg could survive freefalling from space.
“If I really wanted to future-proof this record, I realized I would need to go all the way to the top and straight to outer space,” Rober explained at the start of his video.
“When I started on this journey three years ago, I knew if I could draw my experience of landing stuff on other planets, I would be guaranteed the record. But what I didn’t know was that this would be the most physically, financially, and mentally draining video I would ever attempt.”
After four failed tries, Rober, with the assistance of aerospace engineer Joe Bernard from the YouTube Channel BPS and a team of other former NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory personnel, achieved success by launching a rocket carrying an egg into the Earth’s stratosphere through a high-altitude balloon.
Following the release of the rocket from the balloon, it would aim for a landing on an earthbound mattress and release the egg to freefall from roughly 300 feet aloft.
Rober relied significantly on Curiosity’s 2012 landing, during which NASA successfully landed a rover on Mars. Rober’s 27-minute video was released on November 25. He also documented his egg drop adventure on social media, which left his admirers speechless.
Rober stated in his video that the experiment reminded him of the benefits of determination and not giving up. “I was reminded that in life, things rarely unfold as we expect,” he added.
“But by learning from your failures, coupled with a bit of tenacity, us humans can accomplish a feat as incredible as the world’s smartest Martian robot or as ridiculous as the world’s tallest egg drop.”
