I will discussion a program that was developed to launch a balloon into the stratosphere with a payload that included microcomputers which performed data gathering and experiments.
The balloon launch is the culmination of "Iter Ad Astra" - Road the Stars - a stratospheric balloon project put together by myself, a group of McCormick coding students, mentors, teachers and parent volunteers.
Iter Ad Astra was made possible by a grant from the Microsoft Techspark program through the Rotary Club of Cheyenne.
The launch included a payload carrying two Raspberry Pis which gathered atmospheric data (temperature, pressure) as well as GPS data and two on board cameras. The students constructed the payload and assisted in the testing and coding of the on board computers to capture the data (Raspberry Pis), GPS and atmospheric sensors and cameras.
The balloon/payload flew to over 94,000 feet. The atmospheric, GPS and camera data was analyzed after the flight to learn more about the structure of the atmosphere.
A stratospheric balloon flight was also completed with a group of students from Burns Junior High
I will discuss what is needed in regards to supplies, know how, procedures, etc., to create a similar program in schools, clubs, etc.
