High-Altitude Balloon Photography
You don’t need a satellite, just a big balloon.
Check out this story from Universe Today:
Paul Verhage has some pictures that you’d swear were taken from space. And they were. But Verhage is not an astronaut, nor does he work for NASA or any company that has satellites orbiting Earth. He is a teacher in the Boise, Idaho school district. His hobby, however, is out of this world.
Verhage is one of about 200 people across the United States who launch and recover what have been called a “poor man’s satellite.” Amateur Radio High Altitude Ballooning (ARHAB) allows individuals to launch functioning satellites to “near space,” at a fraction of the cost of traditional rocket launch vehicles.
Usually, the cost to launch anything into space on regular rockets is quite high, reaching thousands of dollars per pound. Additionally, the waiting period for payloads to be put on a manifest and then launched can be several years.
Verhage says that the total cost for building, launching and recovering these Near Spacecraft is less than $1,000. “Our launch vehicles and fuel are latex weather balloons and helium,” he said.
Now this has me really wondering how many of those balloons I let go as a kid almost made it to space.
If you’d like to read the full story, head on over to Universe Today.
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