Space Photography with only $80 camera and latex balloons

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

balloon camera

The Meoteotik team at IES La Bisbal school in Catalonia is comprised of four students namely Gerard Marull Paretas, Sergi Saballs Vila, Marta Gasull Morcillo and Jaume Puigmiquel Casamort. The Four students under the guidance of their teacher Jordi Fanals Oriol has achieved what seems to be impossible. They managed to take photos of the Earth’s Stratosphere with a $80 Nikon camera suspended on two latex balloons with electronic sensors.

To make the project possible, they used latex balloons filled with helium enough to carry the camera and sensors. They only expected the balloon to go up to 30,000ft, they were surprised that the balloon exceeded the expected altitude. They tracked the balloon’s location with the help of Google Earth and the radio receiver. Finally the balloon went down after exceeding 100,000ft. To their luck, the sensors and memory card was still working when they found it after 10km drive.

Come to think of it, just imagine how much money NASA spent to accomplish that feat. Nobody should try messing with the balloon or you might find yourself on the earth’s stratosphere.

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