Alright, let me tell you about this whole “balloon that can go to space” thing I tried. It sounds kinda nuts, right? But I saw some folks doing it, sending cameras way, way up, and thought, hey, I wanna give that a shot.
Getting Started – The Idea and The Stuff
So, first thing, I didn’t just wake up and launch a balloon. I had to figure out what I actually needed. This wasn’t like a party balloon, obviously. Needed one of those big weather balloon types. And helium, lots of it, the proper stuff, not the party tank kind.
Here’s roughly what I pulled together:
- A big ol’ weather balloon. Found one online, looked sturdy enough.
- A tank of helium. Getting this was trickier than I thought, had to find a proper supplier.
- A payload box. I just used a styrofoam cooler box, kept things light and insulated.
- A small camera. Nothing fancy, just a cheap action cam I had lying around. Charged it up good.
- A GPS tracker. This was important! If I wanted any chance of finding the thing again, I needed this. Got one meant for pets or vehicles.
- Some rope, strong tape, and parachute. Yeah, a small parachute so the camera wouldn’t just plummet down.
- Hand warmers. Heard it gets freezing up there, needed to keep the camera battery from dying instantly.
Took me a few weeks just to gather all these bits and pieces. The helium tank was the biggest hassle, honestly.
Putting It All Together
Okay, assembly time. I put the camera, GPS tracker, and a couple of activated hand warmers inside the styrofoam box. Made sure the camera lens had a clear view out a little hole I cut. Taped the box shut really well.
Then, I rigged up the parachute above the box using the rope. The idea was the balloon carries everything up, pops, and the parachute brings the box down gently. Attached the GPS tracker securely, making sure it had signal.
The trickiest part was figuring out how much helium. Too little, it won’t go high. Too much, it might pop too soon. I found some rough guides online, basically calculated based on the weight of my payload box and the balloon’s lift capacity. It was mostly guesswork, let’s be real.
Launch Day!
I picked a day with clear skies and not much wind. Drove out to a big open field, away from trees and power lines. Felt kinda like a secret mission.
Filling the balloon was… an experience. That thing got huge! Way bigger than I expected. Handling it was tough, it just wanted to fly away immediately. Slowly, carefully, I attached the rope connecting the payload box and parachute rig to the balloon nozzle.
Double-checked everything. Camera recording? Yes. GPS tracker on and transmitting? Yes. Parachute attached right? Looked okay.
Then, the moment of truth. Took a deep breath and just… let go. Wow. It shot up fast. Straight up, shrinking quickly. It was actually pretty amazing to watch.
The Waiting Game and… Did it Work?
So, it went up. And up. I watched it until it was just a tiny speck, then gone. Now what? Well, I had the GPS tracker app on my phone. Started watching that.
It kept going up for quite a while, the altitude reading getting higher and higher. Probably went for close to two hours, I think. Reached a crazy high altitude – not actual space, obviously, but way higher than planes fly. Pretty cool.
Then, the altitude started dropping. Fast. Which meant the balloon probably popped, and the parachute hopefully opened. I started tracking its projected landing zone based on the GPS data and the wind.
Finding it was another adventure. It landed quite a few miles away, luckily in another field, not someone’s backyard or up a tree. Took some driving and then walking, following the little dot on my phone map.
And there it was! The styrofoam box, parachute nearby, all in one piece mostly. The camera was still inside, battery dead from the cold despite the hand warmers (they didn’t last long enough). But! The memory card was fine.
Got home, plugged it in, and bingo! Got some incredible footage. You could see the curve of the Earth, the blackness above. It wasn’t Hollywood quality, camera wasn’t the best, and it got frosty near the end, but still, amazing stuff. It really felt like looking down from the edge of space.
So yeah, my balloon sort of went to space. Near space, anyway. It was a lot of planning, some guesswork, and a bit of luck, but totally worth it seeing those pictures. What a ride!