The celebrations over the Mustang’s 50th birthday have been nothing but extraordinary -- from launching a completely redesigned model for 2015 to displaying a drop-top pony atop the Empire State building, Ford->ke31 and its fans have been having a good year. However, the guys in this video have quite literally topped all other efforts by sending a model Mustang->ke428 to space.

Yep, the guys strapped a plastic Revell kit Mustang to a weather balloon fitted with cameras and sent it off to space. The video is edited down to under three minutes, but it documents the major points in the Mustang’s journey. It took 74 minutes for the Mustang to reach its maximum height of 110,000 feet before the balloon burst, allowing the car and its cameras to plummet to earth some 21 miles below.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect about the Mustang’s ascension into space is when the original pony car debuted some 50 years prior in 1965, the American Space Race was just heating up. The United States went on to land men on the moon in 1969 while Ford’s Mustang has moved to become a global product for 2015 and one of the most iconic vehicles to ever roam the streets.

Click past the jump to see the video of the high-flying 2015 Mustang

Why it Matters

This act is a true testament to the loyalty and affection some gear heads and Ford fanatics have for the iconic American pony car. Sure, the folks who were a part of this launch were in fact Ford dealership employees, but we’ll just hope they did this out of automotive love rather than a sales gimmick. Either way, I’m writing about it right now, so that says something about the Mustang’s ability to catch people’s attention and their unique approach to celebrating the car’s birthday.

Ford Mustang

The 2015 Ford Mustang is an all-new car from the wheels up and includes many major updates in design to help push the car further into an iconic status. Gone is the live rear axle and in its place is a sophisticated independent suspension setup. Several new engines are joining the corral, including a turbocharged, 2.3-liter inline four-cylinder making more than 300 horsepower. The 5.0-liter V-8 also returns with some updated features, along with the base 3.7-liter V-6 sporting at least 305 horsepower.

Sales of the 2015 Mustang should start this fall, with a base MSRP not much more than the current car. Stay tuned to TopSpeed for all the continuing Mustang coverage.