STEM Learning via a High Altitude Balloon At The Edge Of Space

As some of you may already know, Anita and I have been working with our local Radio Club on a project to promote STEM learning and interest in Amateur Radio among young people in our area. The idea is to work with kids grades 7-12 to plan, build, launch and recover a High-Altitude Balloon carrying Amateur Radio. Our balloon should be able to reach an altitude of about 100,000 ft before it bursts and the payload returns to earth via a parachute system. The payload will include a computer, GPS, and a 2-meter APRS transmitter to record the balloon’s flight track, atmospheric data, and altitude throughout the flight. The balloon will also carry a video camera and will capture a video recording of the entire flight. You can learn more about our project here.

Project Team Members Will Analyze and Report On Scientific Data

We are working with local schools to put together a team of young people to plan and execute our project. This will include designing the onboard science experiments, analyzing the data collected, and providing a presentation about what was learned to fellow students and others.

You can learn more about our project and view a video that shows what our balloon flight will be like on our Club website. This project is part of our Club’s ongoing program to promote interest in Amateur Radio among young people. The folks at HAMNation recently featured a video that included some information about our club’s activities for young people.

We are working to raise the necessary funds to enable the project to be completed during the current school year. We have set up a GoFundMe page to facilitate the fundraising aspect of our project. We know that we have many readers around the world who follow our blog and it would be wonderful if some of our readers could help us by contributing to funding our project.

Anita and I will continue to post information about our project here.

Best and 73,

Fred, AB1OC