In 2013, Canadian astronaut and International Space Station commander Chris Hadfield proved what’s possible with modern communications technology by recording a pop song with the earth-bound Barenaked Ladies while he orbited the planet.
More recently, Hyundai derived a lower-tech—but arguably more charming—method of communicating with space: by using cars to inscribe a message from Steph, a 13-year-old girl from Houston, Texas, in Nevada’s Delamar Dry Lake large enough to be read by her father, an astronaut currently circling the globe on the space station.
The message—it reads “Steph loves you!”—was created by 11 Hyundai Genesis sedans fitted with spiked tires and driven in formation on the dry lake bed. Measuring 5.5 square kilometres (1.5 times the area of New York City’s Central Park!), the project set a Guinness World Record for “largest tire track image.”
Hyundai produced a video that shows a bit of the behind-the-scenes work that went into “transmitting” Steph’s message to her father, which you can watch below.
Yeah, But Can Your Truck Tow a Space Shuttle?
September 13, 2012
