This adorable message from an astronaut’s daughter will remind you to tell your parents that you love them
Stephanie, a teen living in Houston, Texas, wanted to tell her dad she loves him. Seems simple, right? Normally, that kind of message could be shared over text or email or a phone call, but Stephanie’s dad doesn’t have great cell reception – he works on the International Space Station … yeah, in outer space.
Knowing that her dad has a camera with a zoom powerful enough to see large masses of land on Earth, Stephanie teamed up with Hyundai to create a huge message that he would be able to spot. The entire process was documented in this inspiring video.
“[My dad] would be totally caught off guard if he saw a message,” Stephanie says in the video, “and it might make him miss us even more.”
Hyundai used eleven cars and some pretty crazy mapping technology to write out “Steph <3’s You!” on a patch of desert, creating what we think has to qualify as the biggest Hallmark card ever. The team based the design off of Stephanie’s actual handwriting to give it a more personal touch. To make sure the message could be seen from space, the cars covered 59,808,480.26 square feet — so much ground that the project broke the Guinness World Record for “the largest tire track image.”
Whoa! That’s a lot of love.
The video shows Stephanie’s dad’s surprise when he looks out the window of the Space Station and sees a note written for him down on Earth. He calls her to emotionally thank her and tell her he loves her. The entire Hyundai team cheers and congratulates Stephanie and her mom. We may or may not have needed a tissue … for allergies. Because we have allergies. And lots of feelings.
In all seriousness, what a touching reminder to reach out to loved ones, no matter what kind of distance separates us. Tell someone you <3 them today, and be grateful your text or email or call doesn’t have to make it through the ozone layer.
Watch the full video here:
(All images via YouTube.)