In 2021, NASA's Perseverance rover found tiny green crystals in the frozen magma of Mars. Here on Earth, we call them Peridot. The students of Earth to Sky Calculus just flew some of the gemstones to the stratosphere in the Martian Gemstone Pendant.

These authentic pieces of natural Peridot were launched onboard a cosmic ray research balloon, flying 111,543 feet above the Sierra Nevada of central California. They have touched the edge of space--closer to Mars than any other peridot on Earth.
 
During the 2.7 hour flight, this fragment experienced temperatures as low as -59 C and air pressures less than 0.09% of sea level. According to onboard radiation sensors, cosmic ray levels were 100 times Earth-normal as the pendant reached the top of our planet’s atmosphere and touched the edge of space. After the balloon exploded, the payload parachuted back to Earth, landing in the White Mountains near Bishop, CA.
 
The students are selling space pendants to pay the helium bill for their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry in flight and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere and back again.