This is a very cool story about an unemployed geek who decided to build a helium balloon loaded with a computer, digital camera, GPS, ham radio and more.
This is the story of how I designed, built, launched, and recovered a high-altitude weather balloon. Actually, the term "weather balloon" might be a bit of a misnomer, because aside from the physical latex balloon, and the payload's ability to measure temperature, this project bears little resemblance to a traditional weather balloon. The design and engineering process encompassed more disciplines than anything I'd ever undertaken before -- system engineering, software design, hardware design, basic electrical concepts, radio and RF engineering, and even some plumbing.
He gets the balloon to go over 79,000 feet and land safely. At least check out the picture gallery which includes in-flight photos as well as launch and recovery photos.
Oh, my world. It is ok
Posted by: Stephan on May 27, 2006 09:32 AM