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Coming soon the “High-altitude balloon” skill badge!
High-altitude balloons are unmanned balloons, usually filled with helium or hydrogen that are released into the stratosphere, generally reaching between 60,000 to 120,000 feet (18 to 37 km).
The most common type of high altitude balloons are weather balloons. Other purposes use as a platform experiments in the upper atmosphere. Modern balloons generally contain electronic equipment such as radio transmitters, cameras, or satellite navigation systems, such as GPS receivers.
These balloons are launched into what is termed “near space”—the area of Earth’s atmosphere where there is very little air, but which is not high enough to be in the realm ofsatellites.
A seasonal vortex in Antarctica allows balloons to be recovered very close to their launch site, making it a popular location for balloon-based research.
Due to the low cost of GPS and communications equipment, high altitude ballooning is an emerging hobby.
We have a lot of customers using our products and designs for their cool high-altitude balloon projects and soon we will be able to reward them with a badge!
FEED
Cool…I’ve done five launches. Can I get one?
Comment by Todd Stowe — November 8, 2011 @ 9:15 pm
@todd – we’ll be awarding them and making them available in many ways once we get them in
Comment by adafruit — November 8, 2011 @ 9:17 pm
Anybody see the “Up” episode of “How Hard Can It Be” or the “Backwoods Spy Satellite” ep of “Rocket City Rednecks” on NatGeo? Very interesting shows if you haven’t seen them already. I believe you can view them online.
Comment by Chris Blazek — November 9, 2011 @ 10:39 am
How about October Sky !
Comment by Neil Tsubota — November 9, 2011 @ 1:09 pm