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- Last Updated on Sunday, 03 July 2016 22:38
The Charleroi Area High School STEM Club members launched an atmosphere balloon on Saturday, May 28, 2016.
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| CHS STEM Club Members Launch Baloon |
The club formally planning about two months ago. Everything was purchased via Amazon.com for under $200. The balloon was a 20-foot-diameter professional weather balloon filled with roughly 80 cubic feet of helium. The payload consisted of a two-gallon Styrofoam cooler with two water proof cameras, a GPS tracking device and USB back up battery. The club used hand warmers to prevent the electronics from malfunctioning at the cold temperatures they would encounter. The cooler included a letter explaining our project and was supported by a 3 foot nylon parachute.
The students had to consider the weight of the payload, the amount of helium needed for a positive lift and balance that with the size of the balloon so that it could reach the highest possible altitude. Based on the time a trajectory, the balloon reached a height of at least 80,000 feet. The club used an online tracking tool to predict the approximate trajectory and received a text message from our GPS device once it actually landed in a neighborhood in McKees Rocks. The students had to search through the woods a bit, but the payload was recovered after a 30-minute search.
CharSTEM1.jpg - Pictured are (l-r): Alex Short, David Kuenzel, Ryan Perumal, Jared Miller, Julia Boyer, Sam Marchewka, Anna Kuenzel, Joe Weber, Devin Wozniak-Franks, and Mr. Nick Arico (teacher). Front row: Anna Iacovino and Sienna Petuschak-Vanicky.
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