You can't buy this on Amazon. The "Hand of Apollo" Star Trek Christmas Ornament is only available from the Earth to Sky Store. On Aug. 15, 2024, it flew to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon, reaching an altitude of 107,117 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California.
This ornament depicts the iconic opening scene from original Star Trek series episode "Who Mourns for Adonais?" first aired in 1967. Near the planet Pollux III, the Enterprise was held dead in space by a massive energy field shaped as a human hand. It belonged to a being claiming to be the Greek god Apollo.
The ornament floated in the stratosphere for 3 hours while radiation sensors inside the payload gathered data for the students' radiation monitoring project. After the balloon exploded, as planned, the payload parachuted back to Earth, landing in the White Mountains overlooking Bishop, CA.
The ornament comes with a Christmas card showing the hand in flight, and certifying that it has traveled to the edge of space and back again.
"Hand of Apollo" Star Trek Ornament
$127.95Price