(NFTChronicle.com) – A pair of engineering students used an exclusive invitation to a tech forum to pull off something completely unexpected. Dispensing with tradition and heading off on their own, the brainiacs and two of their friends managed to put an NFT into space.
The event, called “Miami Hack,” is an invite-only convention of techies where some of the brightest minds compete for prizes. Traditionally, participants divide into “houses,” competing in group competitions. The students, Nicholas Tindle and Peyton Thibodeaux from the University of North Texas, and two friends, Ian Perez and Ben Linville, decided to break with the norm and enter their own project, which is unusual but not against the rules.
The quartet put a weather balloon into the stratosphere and connected to a satellite during its travels. The team used the data stream to create an image, becoming the first non-fungible token in space. The four engineers launched the weather balloon from a boat to abide by FAA regulations, and the device reportedly reached altitudes higher than airplanes fly in under four minutes and kept going.
As soon as word of the experiment reached the convention floor, the project skyrocketed into the top five finalists, ultimately taking first place and the grand prize. The team split a $10,000 cash award plus a bonus of four free tickets on Delta Airlines.
They accomplished the feat before knowing how much the NFT, now a permanent part of a blockchain and aerospace history, might be worth on the open market.
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