US Band Tiny Moving Parts Send Themselves Into Space

Minnesotan emo/math-rock outfit Tiny Moving Parts have made history, having successfully ventured into the cold depths of space and returned to Earth — or, at least, sort of.

Back in August, the band affixed a GoPro camera and three custom bobblehead figurines, made in their likeness, to a 600-gram weather balloon, and sent it to a height of more than 24 kilometres above the Earth, capturing the planet's curvature while enduring temperatures of down to -15C.

About two hours into the voyage, the GPS tracker the band had attached to the package ceased transmitting, leaving the band frantically searching the farmlands of Minnesota in an effort to locate it. Eventually, they gave up hope, until a call came through on October 10 from a farmer — "our new friend Kurt", as the band loveably describes him — almost 80 kilometres away, "who found the pack while combing through his bean farm".

The band fittingly used the video to create the clip for their recent cut Entrances & Exits, from recently released sophomore LP Pleasant Living. Check it out below; if it doesn't take your breath away even a little bit while reaffirming your faith in the nobility of the human endeavour as the little figurines bend and break under the pressure of extra-atmospheric travel (what is that middle dude made of?)... just watch it again until it does.

Pleasant Living is available on iTunes now.