A couple near space photos

[MNUser]

Here are a couple we took in our High Altitude Balloon Class.

Number One: Looking back Gull Lake and some of the smaller lakes in Baxter, MN. These were taken from around Fort Ripley at an altitude of 20,000 feet or so.

Number Two: Looking at Mille Lacs Lake from 50,000 plus feet.

Number Three: A nice shot of the blackness of space and the curvature of the Earth. Taken at about 85,000 feet.

All these pictures were taken with a Canon SX120SI.

There was also a GoPro on board and it shot video of the whole flight. It turned out great except for the condensation that appeared around 65,000 feet. We think we have that solved for our next flight. You can see the video from the link below.

High Altitude Balloon Video shot with a GoPro

The movie file is large so it may take a bit to start loading. Worth the wait. Cool stuff! Here is the URL if you want to learn more about the whole process.

http://hab.forestviewmultimedia.com/

[ted4887]

Very cool experiment! Video took a bit to pull up, like you said, but it was entirely worth the wait.

[CAMAN]

Very cool stuff! Is this class put on through the local community college ? I'd love to do something like this!

:edit: never mind just noticed it's through the middle school. Cool stuff to do with kids. I'm sure they will remember it for life.

[finnbay]

Wow! Great adventure!

[toughguy]

I've always wondered what the rules are regarding this. Can you just launch a balloon whenever, wherever you want to? Do you have to notify the FAA so a jet doesn't fly into it, or am I over thinking this?