In the last century this would have either been a top-secret government project or international news as an astonishing achievement.  Today, it is a side-note of some quirky guys shooting a rocket in the Nevada’s Black Rock desert.  To me, it is evidence of human determination and ingenuity to face a major challenge.  The challenge, in this case, was to fly and document via GPS a flight over 100,000 feet in order to win the Carmack Prize.  They were apparently unable to confirm the altitude but I sincerely hope they are able to confirm altitude using some proxy method.  Anyway, it was a good show.

Click photo for full-length video.

A quote from the story via MAKE:

“On September 30, Derek Deville’s Qu8k (pronounced “Quake”) rocket blasted off from the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, screaming to an altitude of 121,000 feet. It was returned safely to earth and fully recovered (three miles from the launch site).”

Click the logo below to go to the Qu8k rocket website.