SOBOBA CASINO: Slot machine launched into space for anniversary

Engineers with JP Aerospace launch a slot machine into space via a weather balloon on Sunday, June 14, 2015, from northwestern Nevada launch to celebrate Soboba Casino's 20th anniversary. (COURTESY OF MICHAEL J. BRODERICK)

About "Icarus" the slot machine

Height: Less than 12 inches

Weight: 2.5 pounds

Appearance: It's a minituarized version of a three-reel, one-armed bandit found in the casino.

Operated with: Coins, reels, gears, and springs.

Compiled by Craig Shultz

Out of this World

• Soboba Casino will celebrate its intergalactic slot machine at an "Out of This World" party at the casino at 8 p.m. June 27 and an all-day event June 28

• The June 27 event will will feature the debut of the online trailer "Soboba's Mission to Space," a film about the project by Inman Productions of Riverside

• Also at the party, 10 winners will receive commemorative cards that were launched with the machine. The cards feature a hologram seal with a certificate of authenticity verifying the voyage to space.

Compiled by Craig Shultz

The first space-bound slot machine — launched to celebrate Soboba Casino’s 20th anniversary of its current facility — fell just shy of its goal Sunday, but still thrilled its engineers and casino officials.

With a crew of about 25, including filmmakers and engineers from JP Aerospace, a nonprofit, independent space program, the slot machine launched about 9:50 a.m. near Lovelock, Nev.

The crew applauded and cheered as the craft, a weather balloon designed by JP Aerospace, was propelled into the sky.

Scott Sirois, Soboba Casino’s general manager, described the process on Sunday as “very exhilarating.”

“Nobody else has ever done it,” said Sirois, who attended the Sunday launch.

The craft peaked at an altitude of 99,000 feet — more than 18 miles, which missed its intended target of 100,000 feet — then came back to Earth via parachute.

It was never meant to reach outer space, which begins 70 miles up.

Michael Broderick, director of marketing for Soboba Casino, said the idea to shoot the first slot machine into space came when executives were looking for ways to note the anniversary and he remembered seeing video clips of other items being sent into space.

“It was really about celebrating a monumental occasion with a monumental event,” he said.

The casino on the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indian Reservation near San Jacinto opened in 1995.

Standing less than 12 inches tall and weighing in at 2.5 pounds, the slot machine is a miniaturized version of a three-reel, one-armed bandit that could be found in the casino. It is operated with coins, reels, gears and springs, but does not have the electronics or computer elements found in a modern slot.

The team plans to retrieve the craft and the slot machine Monday, June 15. Once the craft is recovered, the slot machine will be put on display at the Soboba Casino. Also aboard the craft were commemorative cards that will be given to customers and VIPs.

Nicknamed “Icarus,” the slot machine is doubling as a time capsule. Casino employees have written messages that were placed in a small compartment. It will be opened on its 40th anniversary in 2035.

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