Chinese firm sends tortoise into space, nearly

A flying machine carrying a special "passenger" - a tortoise - reached an altitude of 12,000 meters on its maiden flight on Thursday night in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Luan Lin, co-founder of the Kuang-Chi Group that invented the device, said her team had expected Traveler II to reach 20,000 meters. However, problems with communication and remote control began when it reached 12,000 meters over Bostan Lake, and the team had to give up.

Luan said the setback would not dampen the team's enthusiasm for inventing vehicles for near-space travel.