On July 22nd, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched the Galactic Center Pendant to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon. At the core of this handmade glass orb is a nugget of synthetic opal  surrounded by a swirl of air-bubble stars. It has flown 96,785 feet above Earth's surface and returned safely from the edge of space.
 
You can have it for $169.95. The students are selling Galactic Center pendants to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the necklace  in flight.
 
After almost 3 hours in the stratosphere, the balloon exploded (as planned). The payload parachuted back to Earth, landing in the rugged Benton Range just east of the world-famous Milky Way Meadows dark-sky astronomy campground. The pendant had a wild ride, and the students got great data for their cosmic ray monitoring program.
 
--2021