Guy Sends Camera Up 100k Feet To Photograph Space (And Gets It Back Safely)

from the nicely-done dept

Tue, Oct 5th 2010 11:44am — Mike Masnick

With the recent fighting over NASA funding, a lot more interest has been put on private space flights by companies like SpaceX (and, indeed, the new funding bill encourages NASA to make more use of such efforts). But it's neat to see that you don't have to be a company or the government to at least launching something that gets a good ways up towards space (if not really that close to the border). One guy named Luke Geissbuhler (with his kids and some friends) launched a video camera 100,000 feet into the air connected to a weather balloon. The video is amazing (or if you don't have the time to watch the whole thing, beneath that, there's a still shot from the apex:

As Geissbuhler notes in the video:

In August 2010, we set out to send a camera to space.

The mission was to attach a HD video camera to a weather balloon and send it up into the upper stratosphere to film the blackness beyond our earth.

Eventually, the balloon will grow from lack of atmospheric pressure, burst, and begin to fall.

It would have to survive 100 mph winds, temperatures of 60 degrees below zero, speeds of over 150 mph, and the high risk of a water landing.

To retrieve the craft, it would need to deploy a parachute, descend through the clouds and transmit a GPS coordinate to a cell phone tower.

Then we have to find it.

Needless to say, there are a lot of variables to overcome.

The results are impressive, to say the least. Of course, if you want to quibble, 100,000 feet really isn't space. Some would argue it's not even that close to space (though, the images sure are impressive), but to those who are quibbling: how high have you launched an HD camera via a balloon and then retrieved it?

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Filed Under: space, videos

22 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 5 Oct 2010 @ 11:56am

See also:
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Camera-Space-Photos-Earth-Balloon,news-6255.html
maybe that guy should have patented "sending a device into space to take images" and prevented this new guy from doing it with video?
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chris (profile), 5 Oct 2010 @ 12:17pm

Re:
there was a competition among american hackerspaces to launch space balloons:
http://www.workshop88.com/space
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John Doe, 5 Oct 2010 @ 12:43pm

How do you avoid planes?
I didn't read the article so maybe it answers the question, but how do you do this and avoid aircraft?
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Murdock (profile), 5 Oct 2010 @ 12:55pm

Re: How do you avoid planes?
You don't have to avoid planes. What you have to do is send up a balloon and package that are under specific FAA weight requirements so that if a plane did intercept them there would be no damage.
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Murdock (profile), 5 Oct 2010 @ 12:58pm

Not that big a deal really..
Not sure why this is showing up on Techdirt honestly.

My buddy Ian did this up in the northwest last spring, I personally will be doing one this spring all to 100K+

Here is another story from March:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/balloon-camera-duct-tape-shoot-earth-pictures-space/story?i d=10210658

DIY for $150 following these instructions from 2009:
http://hackaday.com/2009/09/19/high-altitude-balloons/
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ReallyEvilCanine, 5 Oct 2010 @ 1:02pm

Re: Re: How do you avoid planes?
Which weight requirements would those be? Which section of the FAR defines this?

You utter ninny.
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Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 5 Oct 2010 @ 1:12pm

Re: Not that big a deal really..
Yes, it's been done before, but it's still freakin' cool.
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Murdock (profile), 5 Oct 2010 @ 1:30pm

Re: Re: Re: How do you avoid planes?
That would be FAR 101.1

4) Except as provided for in §101.7, any unmanned free balloon that—

(i) Carries a payload package that weighs more than four pounds and has a weight/size ratio of more than three ounces per square inch on any surface of the package, determined by dividing the total weight in ounces of the payload package by the area in square inches of its smallest surface;

(ii) Carries a payload package that weighs more than six pounds;

(iii) Carries a payload, of two or more packages, that weighs more than 12 pounds; or (iv) Uses a rope or other device for suspension of the payload that requires an impact force of more than 50 pounds to separate the suspended payload from the balloon.

No need for name calling.
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Bobby Marko, 5 Oct 2010 @ 1:36pm

Re: Not that big a deal really..
An interactive agency in Minneapolis, MN, Sevnthsin, did this a couple weeks ago: http://yaviniv.sevnthsin.com/

They've documented the whole process at that site.
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interval, 5 Oct 2010 @ 1:46pm

This is simply 'cool'
'nuff said.
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Murdock (profile), 5 Oct 2010 @ 2:18pm

Re: Re: Not that big a deal really..
I shouldn't down play the accomplishment, it still isn't easy. I'm just curious what prompted this one to make it on TD vs. another.
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Near Space Sciences, 5 Oct 2010 @ 3:11pm

Balloon Flight 22+ Years
We here at near space sciences have been doing this for over 22 years now, check out our last flight video at. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ0IT4ZwtSo
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CJ (profile), 5 Oct 2010 @ 3:28pm

Regardless...
It is still cool. I had read somewhere that the FAA was checking rules to see if there were any laws broken. Must not be because there are many doing this sort of thing now. I would not mind doing a project myself with the children in the neighborhood. Plus family members children. It would be something that would be forever etched in their minds. Plus may even motivate a few.
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trilobug, 5 Oct 2010 @ 4:13pm

Right On!
Okay that fuckin' awesome.

Father of the year, this beats the shit out of the science experiments I did with my dad.
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thesunalsiorises, 5 Oct 2010 @ 5:35pm

Re: Re: Re: How do you avoid planes?
You sir, are a douche.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Oct 2010 @ 5:52pm

What a waste.
The nation's Helium reserves were privatized under GW Bush and this guy is wasting helium on that?

Wow.
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anthony, 5 Oct 2010 @ 7:18pm

NASA hoax
I believe this to be hoax.
As in the faked Apollo missions, there are no stars visible!
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Near Space Sciences (profile), 6 Oct 2010 @ 6:27am

Heilium NOT!
We here at Near Space Sciences hs never used Helium. We use renewable Hydrogen just like the weather service. For all 22+ years of doing these flights. all 50 of them so far!
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Michael, 6 Oct 2010 @ 6:41am

Re: Re: Re: Not that big a deal really..
The TechDirt crew does not read every blog out there. Perhaps they did not read the hack-a-day posts a few months ago, or some other new stories last year that had this.

They get submissions and read stuff they like to read and then post about what they think is interesting.

So, not all of it is going to be breaking news. It is a discussion on topics they find interesting and they think their readers will find interesting.
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Danny (profile), 6 Oct 2010 @ 1:57pm

Re: How do you avoid planes?
You launch your balloon into the 99.99999999999% of space where there are no aircraft. Tricky, but managable.
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Oct 2010 @ 5:01am

As I read these unconstructive comments from people who have learnt nothing from their years on this planet except how to swear, sneer and belittle others far more intelligent use of their brain power than they will ever achieve, I realise with a clarity they will also never achieve why mankind does not move foward and prefers instead to remain in the dark ages building nuclear weapons, killing each other for no reason and starving itself to death.
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raoul duke, 8 May 2013 @ 6:41pm

Re: Re: Re: How do you avoid planes?
FAR part 101, douche bag
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