Buddies come up with an idea that is out of this world

T may not have quite the same impact as the first man or woman in space, but there are high hopes for a small piece of Scotland that has just been blasted into space: a slice of shawl decorated in one of the country’s famous exports, Paisley Pattern.

Loaded on board a rocket bound for the International Space Station, the piece of material was blasted off on Monday and over the next six weeks will orbit the Earth at speeds of anything up to 17,000mph around 220 miles above the surface of the planet. In total, it will travel more than 15 million miles before coming back down to Earth.

The journey was originally the idea of Paisley-born Andy Campbell, who is the commercial director of the International Space Station Educational Trust (ISSET) but was also aware of his home’s bid to become UK City of Culture 2021. Mr Campbell now hopes that when the material goes on show in a few weeks’ time it will help to publicise the bid and help it win.

Renfrewshire’s Provost Anne Hall said the project was also a way of reminding people of Paisley and Renfrewshire’s connections with the rest of the world and of what the area has to offer. For example, the town boasts one of the few remaining public observatories in Scotland where visitors can use the vast range of telescopes for stargazing all year round.

The Paisley Pattern shawl’s 15-million-mile trip into space is also a reminder of Scotland’s burgeoning links with space exploration and the huge industry that is growing up around it.

Only last week, the proposal to launch space tourism from Prestwick took a step closer when an American firm struck a deal with the Ayrshire airport to bring manned launch services to Scotland. The pioneering Glasgow company Clyde Space has also been building satellites for the UK Government and has plans to open a US base. Sending a piece of shawl into space is a bit of fun, but in Scotland, space is becoming an increasingly serious business.