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DIY High-Altitude Ballooning

Posted by timothy on from the creative-photography dept.

The Ape With No Name writes "Ever wanted to see the black of space but just can't pay a cool 20 million to do so? Well, just build your own small-scale, high-altitude balloon like these guys out of styrofoam, duct tape, electrical kit and a 'consumer-grade' weather balloon. They reached an estimated 52000 feet, had all kinds of tech issues, including hacking code to fly the mission minutes before launch. Cool pics and video were taken throughout the mission. Next flight is in approximately 2 weeks with 100,000 feet the goal."

12 of 176 comments (clear)

  1. Movie Mirrors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Mirror for videos: Launch & Prep - Just Launch - Recovery

    I ask that you please do not stream them. Thanks!

    1. Re:Movie Mirrors by Ninwa · · Score: 4, Funny

      Sorry, I must admitt that I partially did that to stress test my server... and it failed. :( It's seeing much blackness at the moment.

  2. Exciting but risky by fembots · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's almost as exciting as reading how NASA got Apollo13 back, but the fact that the payload just dropped back to earth "randomly" is quite alarming.

    --
    Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
  3. Cheaper by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ever wanted to see the black of space but just can't pay a cool 20 million to do so? Well, just build your own small-scale, high-altitude balloon like these guys out of styrofoam, duct tape, electrical kit

    or alternatively, stick two pieces of aforementioned duct tape over your eyelids and experience the black of space right here at home.

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  4. DUHH!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    >Ever wanted to see the black of space
    >but just can't pay a cool 20 million to do so?

    Yeah - just wait for the sunset.

  5. Another Cool Page... by th1ckasabr1ck · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here's a cool webpage of a group that did something similar. Their baloon made it up to about 94,000 ft. The site has a cool writeup with pictures and such of their project.

    1. Re:Another Cool Page... by joranbelar · · Score: 5, Interesting

      You know, this may seem totally random, but what I appreciate about this post is the fact that he provides an interesting and relevant link to a similar story without resorting to self-righteous babbling about how it's all been done before and Slashdot is so behind the times, and how stupid we all are for not knowing about the previous stories. I've been getting tired of those posts :) Sometimes, it's just about getting the information out, not about who did it first.

  6. Okay then: are these balloons or UFOs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Blips on Google Maps

  7. Darwin Awards! by zoloto · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Although he was just an honorable mention, lawnchair Larry was funny. Here's what he did:

    http://darwinawards.com/stupid/stupid1998-11.html

  8. FAA Approval for a launch? by purduephotog · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I scoured past articles for this.. but could not find it. There was reference to the steps a guy had to go thru to get FAA approval for launching a balloon- contacting the airport controller, etc, and no one had any clue how to do it.

    I saw no mention of permits (before slashdotting) of this sort of information being obtained.... which has me rather worried.

    Yes, the odds of coming in contact with a commercial jet at altitudes between 11,000 and 29,000 is probably very small, and and yes it was only a small payload (talk about scaring the shit out of a pilot seeing it up there), but I'd still feel rather safer knowing that the FAA was alerted to a possible flight hazard on a lane- perhaps it should have had a simple radar reflector to show its location?

    Wish I could have seen the photos, but I was too busy reading.

    1. Re:FAA Approval for a launch? by tigeba · · Score: 4, Informative

      The FAA permits these types of launches provided they meet certain criteria.

      http://www.eoss.org/pubs/faaball.htm

      Basically, total weight needs to be under 12 pounds. Most people try to keep it under 4-5. The FAA would like you to file in advance and inform them when you launch.

  9. Re:... pretty neat ... by DJCF · · Score: 4, Funny
    There's a story about the military pilot calling for a priority landing because his single-engine jet fighter was running "a bit peaked." Air Traffic Control told the fighter jock that he was number two behind a B-52 that had one engine shut down.

    "Ah," the pilot remarked, "the dreaded seven-engine approach."