These mind-blowing images were not captured by astronauts, just a homemade weather balloon by father and son duo Barry Fraser, 38, and his son Cameron, 12. The helium balloon rose 19 miles (31km) above the Earth in just an hour and 48 minutes before it burst, having expanded too much. Fortunately, all of the equipment was secured to a parachute and floated back, landing in a thick forest west of Brora, in the Highlands. Continue for the video and more information.

Alan Savage, chairman of Orion Group, added: “Locally, we have Kinloss airbase in Moray as a strong contender to become the UK’s first space port. You never know, in the future we might need to be asked to find engineers working on space travel projects so we thought it would be exciting to get involved. I believe we are also the first recruitment agency in the world to launch into the stratosphere – an accolade the team are very proud of.”

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