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Australian Student Balloon Rises 100,000 Feet, With a Digital Camera
hype7 writes "An Australian student at Deakin University had a fascinating idea for a final project — to send a balloon up 100,000ft (~30,000 metres) into the stratosphere with a digital camera attached. The university was supportive, and the project took shape. Although there were some serious hitches along the way, the project was successful, and he managed to retrieve the balloon — with the pictures. What's really amazing is that the total cost was so low; the most expensive part was buying the helium gas for approximately AUD$250 (~USD$200)."
See, you can get a lot higher up without a kid inside.
I'd say. When the basket fell off, I was sure the boy was dead!
They should keep it fastened down a little better.
Now we can say that all those stories about high altitude camera stealing gremlins probably aren't true..
Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
Hey, man. Too bad you didn't get the opportunity. But I'm proud of you for not being bitter.
I only post comments when someone on the internet is wrong.
And all this coming from a fat gimp who sits in his moms basement typing out 'Worst episode....ever' comments and doing precisely nothing.
So STFU until YOU come back with YOUR pictures YOU got from YOUR sub $300 balloon floating around at 100,000 feet.
Losers like you are the exact reason why the USA is rapidly going down the tubes and will soon be a province of China.
An in a related news story:
(Kennedy Flight Center) NASA Spokeswoman Carrice Light stated at a hastily assembled press conference at a local KFC at Tampa Bay, "NASA has done this many times, and will continue to do so." Ms. Light also went on to say that NASA's projects to explore the heights of space are planned to go way beyond the 100KY Barrier,(short for 100,000 yard barrier), but that it still appears to be a major concern for NASA's administrators. "With the tragic passing of Mr. Jackson, 'Moon Walking' will be indefinitely postponed."
Have you considered a career in player hating? It seems like you'd be a natural. Plus, you get a cane!
Anyhow, this is how most of the atmospheric layer and wind information is obtained --- not by satellite.
Seems like it would've been easier to put little propellers on the satellites to measure the wind than to have to fly a balloon every day.
And before anyone replies, yes, this is a joke. I know this wouldn't work, since the little propellers would fly the satellites off course...
Where do you find those heavy photons?
In my universe, photons are light!
McCartney fans pay bus tickets. [...] Lennon fans too, with discretion.
In your face, Flat Earth Society!
Australian Student Balloon Rises 100,000 Feet, With a Digital Camera
they have been doing it at least since the 1950's
Umm, yeah, I'm gonna need a citation on that.
Same thing happened to me a few years ago at Disney World when I was attempting to juggle a hot dog, my digital camera, and some Mickey Mouse balloons I had bought for the kids. The strings got tangled in the camera and when I went to munch on the hot dog, the balloon slipped from my fingers and I watched helplessly as my camera sailed into the unknown.
But it gets better!
Several weeks later, I received an anonymous UPS package containing my digital camera! A quick glance showed that the Disney shots were still there, but there were some added shots that were somehow snapped on my camera's inadvertent journey. Some brief examples: (a) a shot of a 757 passenger jet with some astonished but blurred looking people looking out at Mickey; (2) a shot that showed a rocket launch at the Cape - from above!; (3) a nice clear shot that showed another group of brightly painted balloons that read "Visit Exciting Sydney!"; (4) a dim but unmistakable shot of the Shuttle as it came in for re-entry.
Of course there were a bunch more boring random shots of earth from way up high, but who cares about those?
I suspect I am not alone in this - has anyone else ever run an inadvertent "experiment" that accidentally took you to the edge of space? If getting close to the final frontier is actually this easy, it won't be long before we make it to the moon!