Teens capture images of space with £56 camera and balloon

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Apple_in_my_Eye
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22 Mar 2009, 7:16 pm

Teens capture images of space with £56 camera and balloon

I love this kind of thing. If had enough extra money and FAA clearance I'd probably try it.

Quote:
Teenagers armed with only a £56 camera and latex balloon have managed to take stunning pictures of space from 20-miles above Earth.

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Last Updated: 2:04PM GMT 18 Mar 2009
Picture of the stratosphere taken by four Spanish schoolboys: Teens capture images of space with £56 camera and balloon
A picture of the stratosphere taken by a group of four Spanish schoolboys Photo: METEOTEK IES LA BISBAL SCHOOL/BARCROFT MEDIA

Proving that you don't need Google's billions or the BBC weather centre's resources, the four Spanish students managed to send a camera-operated weather balloon into the stratosphere.

Taking atmospheric readings and photographs 20 miles above the ground, the Meteotek team of IES La Bisbal school in Catalonia completed their incredible experiment at the end of February this year.

Building the electronic sensor components from scratch, Gerard Marull Paretas, Sergi Saballs Vila, Marta­ Gasull Morcillo and Jaume Puigmiquel Casamort managed to send their heavy duty £43 latex balloon to the edge of space and take readings of its ascent.

Created by the four students under the guidance of teacher Jordi Fanals Oriol, the budding scientists, all aged 18-19, followed the progress of their balloon using high tech sensors communicating with Google Earth.

Team leader Gerard Marull, 18, said: "We were overwhelmed at our results, especially the photographs, to send our handmade craft to the edge of space is incredible."

Completing their landmark experiment on February, the Meteotek team had to account for a wide variety of variables and rely on a lot of luck.

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SamwiseGamgee
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22 Mar 2009, 11:02 pm

Wow, that's amazing!