How far we have come.
Sputnik to rubber chickens.
What a proud civilization we are.

Sorry,I couldn't let that pass by.

Is that... ?
Is this a video of Aloysius getting fired?

Edit to Add: Nevermind. I see that it was his wife, Camilla the Gaul.

Originally posted by kdog1982
How far we have come.
Sputnik to rubber chickens.
What a proud civilization we are.

Sorry,I couldn't let that pass by.

That got me laughing. I was thinking something simalar earlier when I first saw this story. Thanks for posting the vidoe also. That was pretty cool. Amazing that kids can do these things without having to spend big bucks to do so like NASA does.

Isn't helium pretty much a finite natural resource? I say we save it all for making those high squeaky voices!

"Later this year, we plan to launch a species of microbes to find out if they can live at the edge of space," explains team member Rachel Molina (age 17).

microbes go UP

get radiation they were never meant to get


mutated zombie virus comes down.


we are SO DOOMED.

I wonder if their is a way to stabilize it....
Most of us have seen the freedom of information act footage from nasa witch showed UFO's in space around earth. I wonder if some one had the right camera and could stabilize the balloon if we could get a good look at whats going on in space with no doubt.

Originally posted by Infi8nity
I wonder if their is a way to stabilize it....
Most of us have seen the freedom of information act footage from nasa witch showed UFO's in space around earth. I wonder if some one had the right camera and could stabilize the balloon if we could get a good look at whats going on in space with no doubt.

If I had the money I would make a camera ball an send it up over and over gathering all kinds of images from all angles. It would also be cool to send up a huge lit up disco ball and time it so the ISS is flying overhead when it reaches maximum alltitude. I can see the headlines now. 'Astronaughts On The ISS Capture Disco Ball On Camera.'

Originally posted by Infi8nity
I wonder if their is a way to stabilize it....
Most of us have seen the freedom of information act footage from nasa witch showed UFO's in space around earth. I wonder if some one had the right camera and could stabilize the balloon if we could get a good look at whats going on in space with no doubt.

Of course stabilizing the altitude of helium balloons is an old inexpensive way to gather high altitude research and that is where the expense starts to escalate. As we see it doesn't take very much to send a couple kilo payload up until the balloon pops, devise a parachute system that doesn't get tangled up to slow the decent to about a 17 mph impact, and let the winds take it to wherever.

As one would expect, sending up a ton of scientific equipment, to a designated altitude to remain there for 100 days or so involves serious calculations and weather forecasts. To achieve control or even provide some propulsion we expect greater sophistication in the thin air, meaning you can't use air devised propulsions like propellers, you'll need some kind of gas discharge like a cheap rocket engine, and means to control that discharge.

Serious research instrumentation in high altitude ballooning is cooled by liquid nitrogen to maximize their sensitivity and remained at a frosty -322 degrees Fahrenheit throughout each flight.

One can always trivialize serious high altitude research from helium balloons but there is a great leap from sending up a toy store balloon until it pops and conducting controlled scientific detection with retrievable reusable instrumentation.

Also keep in mind the 110,000 ft altitude is but a fifth of the way up to the threshold of space, a 7th of the way up to the ISS normal operating altitude.

I like his ickle helmet.
My flying monkeys would never agree to going that high.