GDB From United Kingdom, joined May 2001, 12708 posts, RR: 80 Posted (3 years 1 month 4 weeks 16 hours ago) and read 1117 times:
Well, near space at 21 miles, this is what a 38 year old IT director from Yorkshire, England, has been doing with a balloon, digital camera, GPS tracker, a bit of shop brought insulation tape.
At first when he mooted the idea, his wife thought he had 'lost touch with reality', NASA thought he'd used a rocket when he posted the results on-line.
James May from Top Gear frequently expresses admiration for eccentrics dreaming up stuff in their garden sheds, is this the highest flying example of such things?
Fly2HMO From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 1, posted (3 years 1 month 4 weeks 13 hours ago) and read 1033 times:
Quoting GDB (Thread starter): is this the highest flying example of such things?
Certainly not. He's not the first guy to do this. Hundreds if not thousands of weather balloons similar to his are launched daily in the US alone. In my school they launched these balloons with cameras and other payloads. And there have been several amateur rockets to just touch the end of the atmosphere as well.
GDB From United Kingdom, joined May 2001, 12708 posts, RR: 80 Reply 2, posted (3 years 1 month 3 weeks 6 days 15 hours ago) and read 894 times:
I did do a search for similar, noting that M.I.T. were doing that, but they are a well known institution.
So I'm curious as to why NASA contacted the guy I linked to above - are his flights that bit higher than other amateurs?
I noticed on a much missed SST, that when we reached 60,000 ft, as opposed to the more normal 58,000, the darker sky and curve of the Earth was even more pronounced, with just that extra 2000 odd feet.
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