Weather balloon photos from space

By ⋅ March 26, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment
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Our Geo Quiz usually asks you about things on the surface of the Earth. Today we’re looking up… way up…

We want to know where the atmosphere ends and outer space begins. In other words — how high the sky?

Of course, there isn’t a boundary line up there. The atmosphere just gets thinner and thinner. But there are several ways to define the beginning of outer space. NASA says you qualify as an astronaut if you go above the 50-mile mark.

At 75 miles up, the space shuttle hits what scientists call “atmospheric drag” on its return flight home. We’re looking for the altitude commonly called the Kármán line. It’s named after a Hungarian American scientist who came up with the boundary.

And it’s the point at which the atmosphere is so thin that an aircraft can’t stay aloft without going into orbit.

So how high up is the Kármán line?

Geo Answer:

The view from above Balloon Camera Icarus Project

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It’s amazing what you can do with an old camera, a weather balloon and a little duct tape. That’s the basic kit Robert Harrison used to take some stunning photographs of Earth. His space perspective photos have even attracted the interest of experts at NASA.

The answer to today’s Geo Quiz is at the edge of geospace. The Kármán line (named after a Hungarian American scientist) is located at 100 km or 62.1 miles above sea level. It commonly refers to the boundary between the Earth’s atmosphere and outer space. Note: Technically the Earth’s atmosphere does not end at any precise altitude. The Kármán line is an international standard.

More information:
Photos: Icarus I
Photos: The Icarus Project

Huddersfield balloon pics from edge of space

Discussion

13 comments for “Weather balloon photos from space”

  • http://Weatherballoonphotosfromspace R

    When that story ended I started thinking that I wanted to hear Space Oddity as a bumper. Then you played that song!

    I was amazed.

    I hope the weather balloon/photography phenomenon doesn’t catch on here in Southern California. Or I’m sure someone will bring down a plane after it hits a balloon or a falling camera.

  • http://www.mytrikebuild.blogspot.com Rodger Hoyt

    Nice. But how do you retrieve the camera?

  • Keith H

    The story and pictures are amazing! I’d love to know who is performing the Spanish version of Space Oddity that is used towards the end of the audio version, it’s wonderful.

  • http://OzReport Richard Hiegel

    How did u recover the camera..I saw the parachute..how did you disconnect and what kind of location device???

    • http://www.TheTalon.SmugMug.com Todd Stowe

      A GPS attached to a ham radio transmitter. GPS gets the signal and the ham radio broadcasts the signal. He picks it up on his radio and it tells him the location.

  • Chris

    He used a gps tracking system I believe. I heard the actual brodcast on this the other night. He either used gps or radio tracking, the guy was a little confusing on what it was (possibly both…gps for approximate loaction radio for exact).

    • http://www.aprs.org/ Mark Forbes

      While I don’t know the details of how this particular device is recovered, other people are using an amateur radio system called APRS. This system allows ham operators to obtain position information and relay it to others. I’ve seen this used for tracking suborbital rockets, airplanes, cars and so on. More info at http://www.aprs.org/ and at numerous other sites on the web.

      • http://www.TheTalon.SmugMug.com Todd Stowe

        That’s exactly how we do it.

  • http://www.poteau.com Roy

    He explains how he locates the camera in the Geo Answer soundtrack

  • Jack Adams

    Im 15, and Im still at school at the moment. I don’t really find science that fun at school because we can’t do any good practicals any more, due to health and safety. Although, I have always been interested in the Earth, and space. I hope to try this in the summer coming up with some of my friends. i don’t really know what GPS I ill use, because they are really expensive.

    Maybe someone could email me at iJack@live.co.uk and give me some guidance to how to make one of these balloons. This would really interest me. I am fascinated by the pictures of the atmosphere!

    Thanks,
    Jack.

  • Jack Adams

    hi, I got my email wrong, its iJacko@live.co.uk

    Thanks

    Jack.

  • http://www.TheTalon.SmugMug.com Todd Stowe

    We did it too! My high school photography class sent a balloon 206,502 feet in the air and recovered the capsule. The photos are online at http://www.TheTalon.SmugMug.com/misc/space

  • Josh

    You can do this yourself for under $150. The MIT student site has good information on what you need to do.

    http://space.1337arts.com/