High Schoolers Push Down Price of Near-Space Photography 88
Floodge writes "High School students at Explore Knowledge Academy in Las Vegas, Nevada have launched a near space photography balloon which took over 2000 pictures of Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City, Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, and much more! The 'space craft' was built from used and recycled components for under 60 dollars and was inspired by MIT students Project Icarus in 2009."
Near-space photography via balloon isn't quite new any more, but price is a great frontier to explore. And I'm glad that there's a school called "Explore Knowledge Academy."
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No one called it space.
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Since when is 95,000 feet of altitude in "space?"
I believe they used the term "Near Space," which lies between 65,000 and 350,000 feet.
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In space, no one can read an altimeter.
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Since when is 95,000 feet of altitude in "space?"
Not much water vapor up there, almost as good as space. :)
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Not much water vapor up there, almost as good as space. :)
So would a hike through my nearest desert qualify as a spacewalk?
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considering that every moon astronaut trained in the desert it just might.
Re:Space? (Score:5, Funny)
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Considering that the moon landing was STAGED in a desert it just might!
I suppose the moon would be considered a desert, so... I agree??
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Since when is 95,000 feet of altitude in "space?"
Considering how uncrowded it's up there, "space" seems like a very good name for it.
Street View (Score:2)
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The price of what? Was there a market? Buyers? I thought google maps sat view was free??? Is there any straw you Space Nutters won't grasp at to pretend space is some kind of exciting marketing opportunity?
We just really like straw... U MAD?
Boom chicka chicka "Server is down", boom chicka.. (Score:3)
I saw the site for a second... and boom... server goes down.
Tis' better to have looked and lost than to have never looked before.
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I think Slashdot is responsible for bringing down more websites than Anonymous!
Next time there's a raid, it should be posted here. Preferably under the guise of something that would interest /.'ers
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I saw the site for a second... and boom... server goes down.
Tis' better to have looked and lost than to have never looked before.
Well it's much cheaper getting your camera into near space than buying enough bandwidth and processing power to prevent being slashdotted. Some things you can't do on a budget.
DHS Will Be Dropping By (Score:3, Insightful)
Now we know what hit the southwest flight (Score:2)
Perhaps that hole in the southwest plane was not so spontaneous
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Oh shut the fuck up you useless troll. Why does everything have to be about terrorism with assholes like you? I swear, if an article came up about this years easter-egg hunt, you'd be claiming that the bomb-squad will show up any minute to blow up the eggs.
If you've actually managed to procreate, I really, really feel sorry for your children.
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Like DIY astro cams (Score:1)
Not too hard to build, with a weather balloon and a modified Webcam.
I've started on a kit to build an astronomy camera, by converting a color web cam to (more sensitive) B&W. Everything else is just software.
There's a video of someone sending up a video camera on a balloon, which shows just how much atmosphere there is to look through, with haze of water vapor, etc., on youtube (can't do the look up here) which was pretty neat. What's missing is some kind of stability (add gyros?)
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I'm going to put on my buzz kill hat and say that it's only a matter of time before one of these contraptions is going to get sucked into a jet engine or foul a propellor.
The FAA does have rules on flying unmanned balloons. [gpoaccess.gov] They say things like don't operate them near airports, deploy them only on days with less than 50% cloud coverage, if they're deployed at night they have to have blinking lights, etc. Without more details, we don't really know if these kids followed those rules or not, but they're pretty simple rules to follow, and given the sophistication of their device I'm betting these kids were capable of following them.
They'd only be collision hazards during the
Link to Vimeo (Score:4, Informative)
http://vimeo.com/22150511 [vimeo.com] This has the video of the images taken.
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anyone got a mirror? (Score:2)
USD 75, not 60 (Score:3)
Their website (http://www.projectviking.org/equipment) says:
"Equipment
We innovated upon and continued the trend of low-cost flight platforms, building our craft entirely from off the shelf components for close to 75 dollars."
Also, they say they had sponsorship for the GPS unit and Helium.
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They could have used a cheap or used Cannon with the chdk.
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Agreed.
I just launched a balloon (again) last Sunday.
The balloon and helium alone cost us $800 (we made it to 103k ft using a bigger more expensive balloon).
Unless people are giving you free money, thats the bare minimum - not even accounting for the cost of tracking and filming equipment. Or the gas needed to drive 4 hours following the balloon . . .
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Nothing new (Score:2, Troll)
This is not new or exciting. This gets done a few times every year by random people, I'd hardly call it news.
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This is not new or exciting.
Yeah, I would have expected the editor to have said something like: "Near-space photography via balloon isn't quite new any more"
The point was how cheap this one was done: That the price point is now down to 60 bucks.
at least 3-4 slashdot stories about this recently (Score:2)
Stop stomping on the sprouts. (Score:5, Interesting)
We live in a country where most people can't explain how the tides or fracking magnets work. (Shout out to Bill O'Reilly and other juggalos) We live in a country where the science content of "Mythbusters" is considered too difficult to understand for the average population. We live in a country where a sweet young woman who recently graduated from high school asked my wife if she drove back to the States from her visit home to Japan.
Anything -- ANYTHING -- that fans the dying embers of inquiry in this country should be encouraged. "Hey, how about that?! It's a real pain in the ass to fold even a piece of toilet paper as long as a few football fields more than 12 times. Hey, the higher you go, the colder it gets, and the more you can see. I wonder if..."
Things have gotten so bad in this country, I'm ready to fall back to toddler teaching techniques. "What, you mixed vinegar and baking soda and it got all fizzy? Hooray! Good for you! Do it again! Hey, have you seen what Diet Coke and Mentos do?"
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US science literacy is still quite high in international comparisons:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/edu_sci_lit-education-scientific-literacy [nationmaster.com]
The US also is among the top for money spent per secondary student:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/edu_spe_per_sec_sch_stu-spending-per-secondary-school-student [nationmaster.com]
Should the US improve? Of course. But ideologically motivated diatribes like yours aren't helping. Take your own
Break put the Champagne! We're #14! (Score:2)
(Looking at your cites)
Yo Adrian! Wolverines! We're number 14! We're number 14 out of a field of 27! We almost made the top half! We totally kicked Mexico's butt! Wooooo Hoooooo!
You, t2t10, are what I'm talking about. You're offering a cite that lists us as 14 out of 27 and referencing that as "quite high." You must be proud of that triple digit SAT score. Let me guess, home-schooled, right, or did every kid in your class get a ribbon after running the race?
You've got this conceit going that you're offering
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Those 27 nations are OECD nations and represent the most developed nations in the world; hence 14 is likely our worldwide position, beating countries like Germany, Switzerland, and Luxembourg.
Worked my way through college, got a fellowship for grad school, working as a scientist now, and not rich (but frugal). Oh, an
Oh, well, if we're beating Luxembourg... (Score:3)
...then we know it's all good.
"The most developed nations?" You mean what we used to call the First World? OK, so in competition with all the countries that aren't walking in shambling horror like Rwanda, we're getting beat by more than half of them. Your sample includes Mexico, a nation that can't protect it's own mayors, police chiefs and judges. And you're proud of this?! With the exception of Germany, by your own numbers we're getting beaten by anyone who's anyone, including members recovering from hist
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I just responded to your verbal diarrhea about the supposed failure of the US educational system. Yeah, we should improve, but we're nowhere near as bad as you claim we are. And since we out-spend those other nations, the problem obviously isn't on the spending side.
Yes it is tru
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Mythbusters? Sure, it's like Jackass for nerds, but that's the idea. The stereotype of the Asperger's afflicted science nerd has to go away, and the sooner the better.
But we have to get the young'uns thinking of science via the interesting aspects. Mythbusters helps - I don't think it's a coincidence that the stars personalities run a range
Who do I contact (Score:2)
I'm Surprsed (Score:3)
I'm Surprised, not for the kids but at the Government. Where was the DHS in all of this and why didn't they shoot it down as a suspected Al Qaeda drone?
I have visions of F16s being scrambled from Nellis to go attack the invading force.
It's great to see that kids still have teachers and sponsors who will help them do something great. Yes, we may consider it small potatoes in some circles but still, this is High School! They're putting fricken sharks with laser beams at stratospheric heights!
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So, maybe unsolicited balloons are a concern.
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Balloons are a very unreliable vehicle for delivering bombs on account of the wind being rather unpredictable and blowing in different directions on different altitudes.
Unsolicited cars and trucks on the other hand are a concern!
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Yes of course. However that would arguably place the explosive payload in the wrong location... namely over your head.
"maybe unsolicited balloons are a concern" (Score:3)
From Wikipedia [wikipedia.org]:
"From late 1944 until early 1945, the Japanese launched over 9,300 of these fire balloons, of which 300 were found or observed in the U.S. Despite the high hopes of their designers, the balloons were ineffective as weapons, and caused only six deaths (from one single incident)—a kill rate of 0.067%—and a small amount of damage."
So, yes, it has happened. Once. In all of recorded history.
By this reasoning, my wife's family should have shunned me as a possible bomber pilot there to d
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This has drifted completely off topic, but please bear with me. Before writing off the balloon attacks, read up on Japan's Unit 731's activities (warning: it's quite unpleasant reading: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-439776/Doctors-Depravity.html [dailymail.co.uk]). If the war had gone on just a little longer, we could have been faced with a massive biological warfare attack... it wouldn't have taken many of *those* balloons getting through to make life quite unpleasant.
Sharks in the water indeed...
Yeah, I heard that song too. :-) (Score:2)
Hmm, Virtucon has a low user id, probably old enough to remember that it takes 99 ballons to scramble the jets. [wikipedia.org] :-)
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Flash the message, "Some thing's out there"
Floating in the summer sky
Ninety-nine red balloons go by
Ninety-nine red balloons
Floating in the summer sky
Panic bells, it's a red alert
There's something here from somewhere else
The war machine springs to life
Opens up one eager eye
Focusing in on the sky as
Ninety-nine red balloons go by
Virus on the page? (Score:2)
My work proxy says the page has a virus on the page. Any one not able to access the webpage?
donate the imagery to openstreetmap (Score:2)
hey ! and to continue the cycle of good intentions, donate the imagery to osm.org to improve maps ;)
I have a theory (Score:2)
Kids in high school think their parents are stupid.
stability (Score:3, Interesting)
I mean near space cheap photography has been done many times.
What's really missing is something to get a stable shooting of the images
right now, it makes me wanna puke!!! Then the animation would really be cool!
re:High Schoolers Push Down Price of Near-Space Ph (Score:1)
well it looks like the site /.'ed
h??p://www.projectviking.org/flight-pictures
has been
the servers are overloaded
the /. effect in action
"Near" space ? (Score:2)
OK, I'm a pedant. I'll get the phone book so you can call someone who cares.
What is a High Schooler? (Score:2)
Is it someone who 'high schools'?
Maybe subby meant high school students.
Good thing it didn't drift west (Score:1)
It might have photographed Barbra Streisand's house.