These Epic Photos From Space Were Shot With a Smartphone
Samsung sent four Galaxy S24 Ultra smartphones into space on stratospheric balloons in order to capture literal out-of-this-world photos of the western United States.
Four identical versions of a lightweight, carbon fiber skeleton centered around a core flight computer and a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra — the company’s latest flagship smartphone announced in January — were floated into space with a stratospheric balloon canopy filled with hydrogen, Samsung explains to PetaPixel.
Over the course of the flight, each craft rose to over 120,000 feet above the Earth as each smartphone periodically snapped photos. The result was over 150 spectacular high-resolution photos of the western United States.
Samsung built and designed two versions of the carbon fiber skeleton, eventually selecting one design that would be replicated four times for the trip into the stratosphere. Technically, the stratosphere isn’t truly space, but the height of nearly 23 miles above the surface of the Earth is significantly above the flying height of commercial aircraft and even above where the U2 Dragon Lady — which reaches somewhere above 70,000 feet (the exact altitude is classified) — flies. In the latter case, the curvature of the Earth is already visible.
Once the final design had been chosen, Samsung launched the four stratospheric balloons from four different locations: Los Angeles, Las Vegas, the Sierra Nevada mountains, and the Grand Canyon. The company says these locations were chosen “to capture a diversity of landscapes that would truly put the S24 Ultra’s capabilities to the test.”
After the rigs were constructed and planned flights were finalized, actually capturing footage took less than a week to complete as the teams launched the four aerial platforms between January 25 and January 31, 2024.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra smartphones weren’t just tasked with taking photos from the same focal length either, as the photos Samsung has shared used a mix of the wide-angle, 5x zoom, and main cameras.
Once it was time to bring the rigs back down to Earth, the teams vented the hydrogen gas and deployed parachutes, allowing the rigs to fall to Earth at a speed of about five miles per hour. The team was able to track their location as they fell and were able to retrieve the smartphones from the safety of their cages.
Image credits: Samsung
