With the help of the car manufacturer (汽车制造商) Hound, a 13-year-old girl was able to send a message to space, where her dad works on the International Space Station (ISS).
"He gets to live and work in space and he is doing lots of experiments up there. He has to stay there for long periods of time... I miss him when he is gone," Stephanie, who is from Houston, Texas, said in a video. "I think if we could write a really big message he would be able to see it from space."
Hyundai took her wish to heart and decided to take on the challenge. Using Nevada's Delamar Dry Lake as a canvas (画布), 11 drivers drove Hyundai cars, spelling out "Steph♡s you" across 2.14 square miles of desert. A promotional video, which Hyundai made to record the process, caught her father's response and showed the picture he took of her message from the ISS.
"I am happy that he could see it and knows that we are thinking about him back home," Stephanie said. "He has seen so many things up there, but I hope that this message was the most special."
There are many misunderstandings about what can and cannot be seen from space. Contrary to popular belief, the Great Wall of China cannot be seen from space, but many seemingly less important things can be seen.
"A farmer from Louisiana could be burning wastes in his backyard, and it would make a big smoke trail that astronauts could see it from space," Mike Gentry, a photo researcher for NASA's human-tended vehicles. And with a special camera, they can see the earth in great detail and even keep up an eye on their favorite sports teams.
