_**Feedback** is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more_ Various Trekkies in the _New Scientist_ office have pointed out to Feedback that this year is the 60th anniversary of the venerable sci-fi franchise _Star Trek_ (TV columnist Bethan Ackerley even wrote a whole article about it). Naturally, its corporate owners have marked the occasion by cancelling all the television shows still in production. A movie is currently in development, but since that has been continuously true ever since the last cinematic release in, er, 2016, it seems best not to hold one’s breath.
In the absence of, say, a special episode where the characters in a current show are inserted _Forrest Gump_-style into an episode of the original programme, fans must make do with what they have, and what they have is apparently an expensive range of _Star Trek_-branded cookware, one item of which was briefly sent into space. For some reason, _Star Trek_ has partnered with Le Creuset, makers of distinctively orange cookware. One can now buy a selection of cooking items, including various casserole dishes emblazoned with trekanalia, a mug with a handle shaped like one of Spock’s pointed ears, and a spoon rest in the form of a Vulcan salute.
A small prize, also, to whoever came up with the idea of the communi-grater. To draw attention to this new range, Le Creuset hired a company called Sent Into Space, which describe themselves as “the industry leaders in filming products, items, and bespoke activations in space”. Sent Into Space used a balloon to take a _Star Trek_ casserole dish to an altitude of 35 kilometres, which isn’t a sentence Feedback ever expected to write.
One can, if one so chooses, watch this event on the Le Creuset YouTube channel, which is a thing that exists. Chief subeditor Kelsey Hayes learned of this after being sent a promotional email about it. She notes that 35 km is “well below the Kármán line”, which is one standard definition for the edge of space and is somewhat arbitrarily set at 100 km altitude.
So, it’s a matter of debate whether the cookpot went to space or just really high. Feedback will say this: we prefer this stunt to that time Elon Musk sent a Tesla Roadster into space. That car is now orbiting the sun and will litter the solar system forever.
In contrast, the Le Creuset cocotte was parachuted back to Earth. Happily, the landing took place in an isolated field. As Kelsey says: “Imagine getting beaned by a Le Creuset Dutch oven dropped from 110,000 feet.” Feedback is always keen on a new scientific acronym, and this one is new to us: self-assessed physical attractiveness (SAPA).
Extract — continue reading at the source.
