A Banana Astronaut

After dogs, monkeys, mice and men, a new Astronaut is coming. It is a Banana! A Banana Astronaut? This 'Bananastronaut' is the brainchild of Montreal-based artist César Saez, who aims to send the 300m-long object into the air. It will be constructed like a blimp, having a structure made from bamboo and a skin of synthetic paper. The banana will be filled with helium and will be launched from Mexico in August next year.

The goal is for the banana to be visible up to 50,000m above the US state of Texas, with the cost of the project - titled the as part of the Geostationary Banana Over Texas project - estimated at $1million (£500,000). Link

On a website devoted to the project, which has reached the engineering stage, it is claimed the banana 'will float between the high atmosphere and Earth's low orbit'. It is hoped the massive piece of fruit will stay in the sky for a month.