On Feb. 27, 2020, this rose quartz gemstone flew to the stratosphere onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray balloon. Soaring more than 100,000 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California, it experienced temperatures as low as -63 C and air pressures less than 0.3% of sea level. Copper wire wrapping shaped like a Tree of Life efficiently radiated away the pendant's stored heat, leaving the pendant, oh so briefly, space cold. The 2 hour flight ended when the balloon exploded, as planned. The payload parachuted back to Earth, landing in the Eureka Valley on the outskirts of Death Valley National Park. The pendant had a wild ride and the students got great data for their cosmic ray monitoring program.
 
Each heart-shaped gemstone comes with a greeting card showing the pendant in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space.