That's out of this world! Homemade helium space balloon captures breathtaking footage above the Scottish highlands
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Over two million people brave rain and midges to visit the Scottish Highlands each year.
But one father and son team have got a unique view of the beautiful landscape that tourists can't see - by taking photos from space.
Barry Fraser, 38, and his son Cameron, 12, designed and built a weather balloon that carried an array of cameras and devices into the space to capture photos showing the curvature of Earth.
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Barry Fraser, 38, and son Cameron, 12, designed and built a weather balloon which carried an array of cameras and devices 19 miles (31km) above the Earth to capture photos showing the curvature of Earth (pictured)
The helium balloon rose 19 miles (31km) above the Earth in just an hour and 48 minutes before it burst, having expanded too much.
The equipment was secured to a parachute and floated back, landing in a thick forest west of Brora, in the Highlands.
The excited pair tracked it down and were amazed to see the spectacular footage of Scotland from the stratosphere - complete with mountains, fields, cities and the coastline.
The pair managed to record spectacular footage of Scotland from the stratosphere - complete with mountains, fields, cities and the coastline (pictured). The sun is pictured at the top of this image
CAPE CANAVERAL...IN SCOTLAND?
Plans for a multimillion pound 'space port' in Britain were announced in November last year.
It could be used to launch space tourists and satellites into orbit within five years.
Possible locations are being considered in the West Country, Wales and Scotland.
The portal, which would cost hundreds of millions of pounds, would be entirely privately funded - but the government would be required to change existing regulations because of the dangers of space travel.
Possible locations include a former RAF base in Moray, Scotland.
Fraser, from Westercraigs, Inverness, was delighted with the mission's success, which was supported by a recruitment agency called Orion Group, based in the city.
'Cameron and I can't thank Orion Group enough for their financial support, as it enabled us to film the curvature of earth from the edge of space,' he said.
'All the time spent planning the mission, pouring over different prototypes and researching the construction of the payload and balloon was more than worth it.'
Alan Savage, chairman of Orion Group, added: 'Locally, we have Kinloss airbase in Moray as a strong contender to become the UK's first space port.
'You never know, in the future we might need to be asked to find engineers working on space travel projects so we thought it would be exciting to get involved.
'I believe we are also the first recruitment agency in the world to launch into the stratosphere - an accolade the team are very proud of.'
The helium balloon rose above the Earth in just one hour and 48 minutes while taking footage of Scotland (a stock image of Loch Torridon in the Highlands is pictured) before the balloon burst, having expanded too much
The high-tech equipment was secured to a parachute and floated back, landing in a thick forest west of Brora, in the Highlands (marked)
The mission was supported by a recruitment agency in Inverness. It took part in the stunt in the hope that they will one day need to recruit engineers who might work in the UK's first space port
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