A HAMPSHIRE teddy bear called Derek has made a successful voyage into space - and returned unscathed.

 

Derek the Steiff teddy was sent into the great unknown at the end of a Helium balloon, equipped with a camera and GPS tracking.

He went 33kms into the air above the New Forest, dressed in a silver space suit, and fell back down to earth this afternoon near Chichester.

His adventure was part of an experience by Toynbee School Science Club and the University of Southampton in a bid to observe how conditions change the further you are from the Earth’s surface.

Derek was fitted with trackers and sensing equipment to record information about temperature and pressure, as well as tracking information about his decent.

"He came down exactly where he the prediction said he would come down."