Watch: Shropshire school pupils launch Lego man into space - before the tracker sends them a curveball
Staff and children at a Shropshire primary school were heartbroken when the tracker attached to a Lego man, which they sent sent to space, failed.
Pupils and staff at Gobowen Primary School recently sent a weather balloon to space - with 'Lego Man Dan' attached - as part of a special project.
They were delighted to finally see the balloon and Lego figure sail into the skies on June 18, having attempted the feat several times.
Pupils watched the balloon and Lego man soar above them and all the way into space. However, the excitement was short-lived for staff at the school, who realised that there was a problem with the tracking device that had been attached to the equipment.
The weather balloon was supposed to land in Derbyshire. So, not wanting to disappoint the children, teacher Margaret Cameron and the school's headteacher set off to try and find it.
But they were unsuccessful, and were left gutted.
However, in an amazing turn of events, the tracker suddenly turned back on, and they discovered that the weather balloon and Lego Man Dan had landed in a quarry near Nottingham.
The school community got in touch with the quarry and were amazed to find out that the Lego figure and equipment was in one piece.
The weather balloon also had a camera attached, meaning the school could share a video of Lego Man Dan's journey online.
Mrs Cameron said: "By Thursday (June 19) afternoon it seemed that all hope was lost and then the tracking device pinged back into action. Our weather balloon, and our Lego man had landed in a quarry.
"A call to the quarry was made and our equipment was recovered by their site manager and was apparently intact. Our hope was restored. A rescue mission put into action and by Monday we had our equipment and Lego man back in school.
"The video footage was incredible, showing this amazing adventure from start to finish but unfortunately, our data logger had failed and we only have a few clues to why our Lego man's journey was not as expected.
"It appears that it reached minus 54C, suggesting that it went well over 30,000ft, maybe reaching in the region of 70,000ft."
