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HD Video From the Edge of Space, On the Cheap

Posted by timothy on from the commendably-few-casualties dept.

SoundDoc75 links to a page describing the motivations and problem-solving behind "a 10-minute HD video taken on August 24th with a Canon Vixia HF20 HD camera suspended from a 1500g hydrogen balloon and launched near Edmonton, Alberta. This is the first known amateur video taken from this height — 107,145 feet."

4 of 205 comments (clear)

  1. Before the days of HD ... by Skapare · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ... and memory cards, ham radio operators did this one in 1989, which was just standard definition, but it went further (from Illinois to nearly Indianapolis) and higher. It just transmitted the signal back via the UHF transmitter on board.

    --
    now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
  2. They could add a rudder... by t0qer · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Watching the video I thought the same thing about controlling the spin. All it would take is a rudder mounted on a boom (no elevator).

    Then again, why not add an elevator, wings, ailerons, etc? They could add a pico pilot

    http://www.u-nav.com/picopilot.html

    And have the camera always pointed towards home. Then when the balloon bursts, instead of an out of control fall, they could have a nice controlled glide back to earth.

    By giving the wings a ton of dihedral, it would automagically keep the camera steady on descent.

  3. Re:There's a reason this doesn't happen often by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Just a motor attached to a spinning disk would have halped a lot, two of these mounted perpendicular to each other should be enough to greatly dampen the spinning and oscillation.

  4. Different Perspective by gone.fishing · · Score: 4, Interesting

    For those of you complaining about the jerky video: STFU!

    For those of you saying it isn't practical: So What!

    I want to take my hat off to these dudes and give them a hearty round of applause and say "Great job guys!"

    My point here is these guys had a vision, that led to an idea, that lead to an exparament where a couple of pretty normal folks did something extrodinary. It is the same kind of curiosity that Ben Franklin had when he flew the kite and "discovered" electricity.

    Those of you who have offered criticisim, I ask you to reply to this post and tell me what you have done without backing that approximates or bests their very cool accomplishment.

    Those of you who have a vision share it, maybe someone will help you make it an idea so, I invite you to share your vision.

    For those of you who have an idea, share it and maybe someone will help you make it real.

    We don't need government, business, or universities to make the world a better place; just a few ordinary folks who try to do extrodinary things!

    Those of you who think this is just very cool, use this thread to virtually offer your applause and (real) encouraging comments!