A Hey Duggee transforming rocket toy made a cosmic journey to beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, into outer space and back, BBC Studios has said.
The toy, inspired by the animated children’s show, travelled into space attached to a stratospheric balloon powered by hydrogen gas.
Its journey was engineered as part of the Hey Duggee Space Week, and the mission will be presented by astrophysicist and comedian Dr Josie Peters.
The toy was launched from a designated site in Sheffield, travelling for an hour-and-a-half and ascending through the atmosphere.
Images and video show the Duggee Rocket floating around 120,000 feet above the Earth, before parachuting smoothly back down and landing close to Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.
“As Hey Duggee puts fun and a ‘have a go’ attitude at the heart of learning, we couldn’t resist this opportunity to send the transforming space rocket toy into orbit and ignite young imaginations on the wonder of space,” said Harriet Newby-Hill, VIP Marketing, Kids & Family at BBC Studios.
Hey Duggee Space Week runs from November 28 until December 5, and Dr Peters will also share further fun facts on the mission, as well as footage from the launch.
To send the Duggee Rocket into orbit sustainably, BBC Studios partnered with Sent Into Space, the world’s leading provider of commercial Near Space launches.
“We’re passionate about education at Sent Into Space and my little ones are big fans of Hey Duggee, so putting Duggee into space and teaching viewers about our planet is a very exciting project for us,” said Dr Chris Rose, Head of Projects and Business Development at Sent Into Space.
Hey Duggee is an animated educational preschool television series aimed at two to five year olds, and is narrated by Alexander Armstrong.