In early 2013, a small group of engineers at Mailchimp asked a question nobody had asked before: could we send an email from the stratosphere?

The answer required a Raspberry Pi Model B, an Iridium 9522a satellite modem, a Kaymont HAB-3000 weather balloon filled with hydrogen, two GoPros, two Freddie plushies, several battery packs, a custom nichrome wire cutting mechanism, and three launch attempts spread across eight months.

Launch one tested the basics. Launch two failed because the full path to PHP wasn't specified in the cron job — the most embarrassing bug in the history of near-space email delivery. Two GoPros are still at the bottom of a pond outside Athens, GA.

Launch three worked. On September 10, 2013, Freddie rode a weather balloon to the edge of space and sent 20 emails along the way — 14 from the stratosphere. Each one contained live telemetry: altitude, speed, climb rate, temperature, GPS coordinates, and a webcam image.

The balloon popped at approximately 96,726 feet. The payload landed in a yard in Centre, Alabama. The owners were fascinated.

The project was named after Freddie, our mascot, with a nod to Project Mercury — the spaceflight program that sent Ham, the first chimpanzee, into space. Our CEO Ben made the connection. The Queen reference was a happy accident. It was perfect.