Las Vegas – Many eyes will be scanning the heavens at midnight tonight when a light (snack) show is scheduled to illuminate the desert sky with flaming marshmallows. A privately financed rocket will barely complete an orbit of the earth before ejecting its reentry canister containing a jumbo economy pack of 10,000 tightly-packed marshmallows.
To promote a new line of donut-shaped marshmallows, the company will shower a precise target area with toasted goodies. A spokesman answering agitated questions why only ordinary marshmallows will be dropped, explained that tests confirmed that the new donut shape had a terminal velocity no greater than a penny thrown off a skyscraper.
Though labeled by NASA as bad science, the white-hot canister is planned to release its load at an exact altitude and position to ensure medium singed treats landing on uninhabited wasteland. Cars full of spectators are already clogging the main highway, and some have even entered the restricted zone to brave the fiery fallout and possibly catch a space marshmallow with outspread sheets, butterfly nets and sharpened sticks.-- FarmerJohn, Apr 14 2004 This would be why we don't have marshmallow space suits. http://phun.physics...os/marshmallow.html [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004] Marshmallow dropped from 85K feet http://www.youtube....watch?v=KPhXCxYEKA0Watch after the balloon pops and you'll see the remaining chips and marshmallow take flight. [Klaatu, Sep 12 2008] No! En Oh! Does it have to come from space? Can it not just be part of a fireworks display? Environmental disaster! What are the chances that someone will accidentially catch a flaming marshmallow covered dead bird? Can humans even survive this hot marshmallow pelting? <grin>Think of the thousands who will flock to that spot only to meet with a painful demise. I can hear the screaming in my mind. Nevermind, it's brilliant!<g> ++-- sartep, Apr 14 2004 Maybe Mr. Stay Puft, The Marshmallow Man could cut the ribbon for the launch.-- skinflaps, Apr 14 2004 I believe Rods suggested this as a way to cook meatballs once.-- waugsqueke, Apr 14 2004 Can't find it.-- FarmerJohn, Apr 14 2004 It was in an annotation to one of my old now-gone ideas. No worries.-- waugsqueke, Apr 14 2004 Okay, but if even one of those god damned things lands on my car...-- phoenix, Apr 14 2004 <orsonwelles>Meanwhile, on a mountain top in Chile....</orsonwelles>
"My word...look at this Sanderson...somehow they're all coelescing...now she's expanding...Dear God man, call the government...its an Extinction level Mallow."-- dooper, Apr 14 2004 <wondering> If the NASA put marshmallow tiles on the space shuttle and after reentry cut the tiles into tiny little pieces to sell at the space exhibition in Huntsville, AL, for $5 each, could they make enough money to finance the next launch?</w>-- kbecker, Apr 14 2004 Yeah, it's all fun and games until the Triffids arrive...-- lostdog, Apr 14 2004 I think they would just burn up if they were launched from space/-- schematics, May 13 2004 I suppose if you dropped big enough mallows (the size of a car for instance), they would survive the re-entry, with the top layers burning away leaving a lightly toasted centre!-- MikeOliver, May 14 2004 I suppose if you dropped big enough mallows (the size of a car for instance), they would survive the re-entry, with the top layers burning away leaving a lightly toasted centre!-- MikeOliver, May 14 2004 What would be better is if you coated the "Uninhabited Wasteland" with a gigantic Graham cracker. And maybe also coat that in chocolate, which will absorb the heat from the impacting Death Mallows.-- Hive_Mind, Sep 07 2008 The mind boggles: As the marshmallows fall, they will heat up and expand, lowering their terminal velocity. You need to know: Cold terminal velocity, air friction when cold, hot terminal velocity, air friction when hot, time to achieve half-puffed and full-puffed status, air temperature, toasting temperature, heat retention properties, heat dispursal properties, heat transferal properties, water content, air humidity. If you drop them too high they will toast but completely dry out. Too low and they won't toast. Too dry and they may burn, too wet and they may lose too much heat. If they toast but then fall slowly, they won't be molten when they arrive. If they lose heat too quickly they may not toast. If they retain too much heat, they may burn. so many factors.... <wanders off to find a calculator and a marshmallow melting temperature scale with humidity>-- Voice, Sep 09 2008 Simple solution to those questions: do it at nighttime and have a low-flying jet with it's lights off drop the pre-heated pre-toasted marshmallows, they'll never know... [+]-- xxobot, Sep 12 2008 Marshmallows in space [+] <link>-- Klaatu, Sep 12 2008 random, halfbakery