I feel like this sort of spirit is now completely gone. If your science experiment gets shot down, my expectation is you're going to get labelled a terrorist and thrown into a prison cell.
I’m sorry. I completely believe that this is how you feel. On the other hand I see no evidence to show that there is any reason these guys will be prosecuted.
I suspect that maybe you feel this way because this is the context you are hearing about pico balloons the first?
The people who launched the balloon first studied the law, and then designed a balloon to colour inside the law. For them the question: “is this even legal?” did not just come up today. They started with the question “what is legal to do with balloons” and went from there.
And it is not like they launched and bam got shot down immediately. That very balloon has already circumnavigated the planet multiple times.
Imagine if you live on a desert planet and the first time you hear the concept of “swimming” through some horror story where someone drowns. Because of the context you would be appaled and would think only crazy daredevils would try such a thing. Maybe you would be of the opinion that anyone who provides facilities for swimming surely must go to prison prompt. On the other hand if you grown up in a coastal or river-side community and spent many days with your friends swimming on beaches then you know that while drowning is a danger, most people return safely from a swim.
