Make: is going to space! Have you ever wanted to go up into space? Well, you don’t have to win a golden ticket, be a millionaire, or an astronaut… you can send your own payload into space!
We’re using weather balloons to go up to approximately 100k feet armed with 4 cameras… 20 megabytes of camera! We’ll be taking shots every 7 seconds for two hours and measuring the temperature with the Make: controller and thermistors!
It took 16 people working on this, countless cases of mountain dew, lots of take-out food, and a lot of sleepless nights, and we intend to fly Sunday!
Cloud cover, snow, and mechanical failure may postpone the launch, but we’re ready to give it our best shot this weekend.
In this Make: Video Podcast, you’ll learn all the details of how to put a weather balloon up into space! The weather balloon will make it up to about 100,000 feet. That’s almost 20 miles up and more than twice the height of being in an airplane. It’s high enough that the sky is black and you can see the curvature of the earth.
Why would we want to send a package into space? To take pictures and temperature readings of course! We’ll be using the Make: Controller to boss around 4 canon sd cameras set up to take a spectacular panoramic picture every 7 seconds! It will also have thermistors on it to measure the temperature as it goes up?
We’ll be tracking it with two different systems. The primary system is a gps module connected to a tinytrak which makes the gps data into aprs ham radio packets and then sends them out on 144.39mhz which will get picked up by our receivers and repeaters and then routed to the internet where anyone can watch on google maps and earth in real time!
Here’s an mp4 that plays on pretty much everything. Here’s a 3gp and 3g2 for people who like to watch on their phone! Of course if you subscribe in itunes, the videos and accompanying pdf get downloaded automatically for you, no muss no fuss. You can browse all the Make: videos and get embed codes at blip.tv or on the weekend projects page at your leisure! - Subscribe Link
Wow Bre. This is really exciting and shows off the power of collaboration…
[...] More information: http://www.brepettis.com/blog/2007/03/03/diy-space-make-video-podcast/ [...]
I think this is a really cool project, but you aren’t going anywhere close to space! High altitude photography - yes! Space, no! Although there are many possible ways of defining the boundary or space, even the most loose definitions of where space starts are about two and a half times higher than your balloon will be going. The lowest short term orbits (ones that can only last a few days due to atmospheric drag) start at about 5-6 times your target height.
This is so frickin’ cool I don’t know what to do with myself. I’m amazed at how much can be accomplished in that workshop of yours.
[...] (month) they wanted to go to space using a weather balloon to reach 100k feat. You can watch the video podcast about how they made the [...]
I watched this on the tube today, on my way into London to a boring meeting. It was a total surprise. I was laughing out loud with the sheer genius of it, right in the middle of a crowded tube train. It put a smile on my face all day. You rock. You all rock. Great film of a great project. Can’t wait to see the results. But then it’s really all about the process, right…?
COOL !! can’t wait see the results
That is one of the most exciting MAKE’s I have seen yet!! Wish you all the best in your Mission into Space!
I’m pumping up my balloons and attachng my lawn chair for a ride-alongside.
UNFREAKIN’ BELIEVABLE! Wish I had you for a high school teacher, I might have passed?
UNFREAKIN’ BELIEVABLE! Wish I had you for a high school teacher, I might have passed?
How will you prevent the camera lense from fogging with temperature change?
I sprinkled those little desicant silicone beads through the whole thing to suck up moisture!
Cool - both panoramas and space. I can’t wait to see the photos.
Hi All!
I was thinking that while the gps systems might get you close, the cameras might land in some bushes. can you make the phone ring? If you still can’t find it, how about a stobe light for a night time search.
Great project! I showed the video to my 9 year old son. He loved it! He was asking all kinds of questions. How big will the balloons be? And how many? And how did you figure out how many you will need? Cool!
Bon Voyage!
Bob
[...] I do. Bre Petis over at Make, ( you should subscribe to this quarterly mag ) are putting a weather balloon up in [...]
Nice, i’m wondering how much helium is needed, and what it costs?
At high altitude electronics could short out unless they are sealed. Spacecraft use conformal coating and “potting” to cover any exposed circuits.
Vacuum chambers can be used to test the electronics prior to flight.
Bre,
My son Simon and I think this is a way cool project. We will be watching for the outcome and learnings. Break a leg!
Ironic1
The lenses should only fog if they go from room temperature
to freezing and then back to room temerature again.
Best of luck - hope it produces useable images.
Ok, dumb questions:
Where are the results going to be posted? (since this isn’t mentioned anywhere.)
Or even WHEN are you launching it? That’s not mentioned either. It’s been a week since this was posted.
did it happen? is everybody ok? where are the pictures?
Did it fuck happen. The camera would have frozen. Dumb idea.
Did it explode and kill everyone @ Make? jk
Any idea when pics are gonna be up (if it worked)?
[...] Bre and his friends make things like space ballons. Sometimes they launch them and are unable to find them. Although the project has been abandoned the videos are very informative and show what amazing things a small team with a little money and off-the-self technology could do. Earlier this year a Canadian team had success with their space balloon and got some amazing aerial photos. October 7th, 2007 by Filed under: Baby | [...]
[...] of cameras on it and multiple ways of tracking it. You can see the videos that I made about that here and [...]
you ignored weight and size!
so you will not go anywhere!
who use ready made huge modules with tons of power for project where every gram might terminate whole work
ps timer with resistor will not work only huge battery can provide enough current, use rocket engine starter or hair thin coil on match head with firework
[...] Posts - Space Balloon - [...]
Depression Depression Depression aaaaaaaa
:( 
HEEEEELP
I hate winter! I want summer!