Introduction

Hi! We are the Nash family, and we are attempting to launch and recover a weather balloon that will travel to near space which is 65,000 to 325,000 feet (20 to 100 km) above sea level. Realistically, we will be happy to reach the lower end of that altitude and will consider the project a success. The stretch goal is to reach 100,000 feet, because it is a nice round number. Attached to the balloon will be many sensors, a GPS recovery system, and a video camera pointing straight down, and a still camera facing to the side. Hopefully, the results of this project will be amazing pictures of the earth, and a successful launch/recovery mission.

 

The biggest potential source of failure is the likelihood that the balloon will not be recovered. If anything fails in the recover system, we could lose contact with the balloon and never see it again. In the event this happens, the payload will be covered with a message so that if it is recovered, a kind person can call and let me know where it is.

 

Many people have done this before, however it is a fun family project and involves solving many engineering problems on a shoestring budget.