Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the tiny plastic starship Enterprise. Its 1-day mission: to explore the farthest reaches of our atmosphere, to hover about awkwardly while attached to a big balloon, to boldly go where no geek has gone before! Beating Archer, Pike, and Kirk to the punch, Steve Schnier has officially become the first man to guide Star Trek’s USS Enterprise into space. Sure, it may only have been a model of the legendary starship, but I’m still mightily impressed.

Schnier was looking at his Star Trek Limited Edition USS Enterprise Packaging Blu-ray about six months ago when the thought hit him, “This would look REALLY cool in space.” Using a  weather balloon and carefully mounted GoPro cameras, the intrepid adventurer launched his Enterprise on April 28th, recording every second of the voyage. “The little spacecraft that could” reached 95,568 feet and traveled at a top speed of 63 knots. Hmm, I wonder how many warp factors that is. You can check out the amazing footage for yourself below (complete with obligatory lens flare), but be warned, it might cause sudden fits of childlike wonder. And be sure to visit Schnier’s blog for more details on how he made his geeky dream a reality.

Now that Schnier’s model has technically become the first USS Enterprise starship to fly in space — effectively rewriting the entire Star Trek canon — has he inadvertently created yet another new timeline? Will we now be treated to revisionist adventures of a miniature Kirk and Spock? Well, I think I speak for all Trekkies when I say… bring it on!

The USS Enterprise Launches into Space… Sort of