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Mar 26, 2010: Journey Into Space
>>> with a balloon and duct tape
| it all sounds very Heath Robinson but a digital camera, a GPS device, some duct tape and a balloon were all that was needed to take some breathtaking pictures of Earth that had Nasa calling. |
| Robert Harrison, 38, used a collection of cheap parts costing Ł500 to create a balloon-mounted camera that can travel up to 21.7 miles (35km) above the surface of the Earth. The result is a series of pictures taken from a height that only a rocket or weather balloon can reach. Mr Harrison, an IT director from Highburton, West Yorkshire, has launched 12 high-altitude balloons (HABs) since 2008. |
skysidhe Thursday Mar 25 07:46 PM
Very awesome! I am reading it right now.
xoxoxoBruce Thursday Mar 25 10:50 PM
It's not hard to do, the hardest part is getting your shit back. 
Of course it's also pot luck with the pictures, because he doesn't have the ability to take pictures of anything he wants, but what he got was very pretty.
stevecrm Friday Mar 26 04:04 AM
I wonder how many people will rush out and buy cameras/balloons?
next time i see a balloon I am going to follow it and hopefully get me a free digital camera 
Trilby Friday Mar 26 05:53 AM
They say it's a camera/balloon - but we KNOW it's a UFO.
capnhowdy Friday Mar 26 07:24 AM
I wasn't shocked at all when NASA said it would have cost them millions to take the shots.
Imagine that.
Sheldonrs Friday Mar 26 10:03 AM
If he wanted a picture of his house from space, he could have saved the money and just gone to googleearth. 
rditlkustoleit Friday Mar 26 10:53 AM
I think it would have greater mass appeal if it was corporate funded and flew/floated under the flag of bringing awareness to air pollution or some equally green agenda. You know, Plastiki style
_________________
If we're not supposed to eat animals, why are they made out of meat?!
monster Friday Mar 26 11:34 AM
WTF? It's Friday? How are we supposed to eat an entire earth? Never mind the recipes, where would we find a big enough pot? Some IOTD posters are just so darn thoughtless.
Gravdigr Friday Mar 26 12:20 PM
The ballon was made by Toyota. It was only supposed to go a hundred feet up. It. Just. Wouldn't. Stop.
Gravdigr Friday Mar 26 12:26 PM
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Originally Posted by monster
WTF? It's Friday? How are we supposed to eat an entire earth? Never mind the recipes, where would we find enough pot? Some IOTD posters are just so darn thoughtless.
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Nirvana Friday Mar 26 01:46 PM
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Originally Posted by monster
WTF? It's Friday? How are we supposed to eat an entire earth? Never mind the recipes, where would we find a big enough pot? Some IOTD posters are just so darn thoughtless.
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xoxoxoBruce Friday Mar 26 02:54 PM
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Originally Posted by Nirvana
I posted this on Thursday somehow it was moderated to Friday, here is something that will make you a nice soup
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Nirvana Friday Mar 26 04:41 PM
I wasn't the one bitchin
xoxoxoBruce Friday Mar 26 09:36 PM
I didn't say you were, I was explaining why, "somehow it was moderated to Friday".
IOtD is the one thread with a format, except the ones where LJ tries to herd cats.
bbfrreak Saturday Mar 27 12:28 PM
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Originally Posted by capnhowdy
I wasn't shocked at all when NASA said it would have cost them millions to take the shots.
Imagine that. |
Would it cost NASA millions to take pictures from 22 miles up? Absolutely not, its a bit unfair to compare a picture from 200 miles up to 22 miles up. Its a bit dishonest. Tell you what, find a cheap way to take a picture from 200 miles up and we can compare the two and you can hard knock NASA all you want.
xoxoxoBruce Saturday Mar 27 04:07 PM
Welcome to the Cellar, bbfrreak.
According to the Times...
| A guy phoned up who worked for Nasa who was interested in how we took the pictures,” Mr Harrison told The Times. “He wanted to know how the hell we did it. He thought we used a rocket. They said it would have cost them millions of dollars |
I do agree, however, NASA would spend millions to get those shots, because they would want exactly those shots, not random pictures from 22 miles up. They have plenty of similar pictures. They would also incorporate taking the pictures into a program to do a bunch of other shit at the same time, plus spend a million on documentation and reports.
Way back in 1964, I worked for a Dr Howell at Tuft's University, where we:
1~ built a package containing a modified Nikon camera, a 24" gold plated beryllium mirror telescope, silver cell batteries, and some electronics.
2~ Flew the package from a balloon, down at Alamogordo, NM, where it climbed 20plus miles and took infrared pictures of the Moon and Venus, for a month.
3~ Remotely cut the balloon free, parachuted the package back to Earth, and retrieved the package with the film.
That package made 13 flights, all for less than half a million (1964) dollars.
Gravdigr Saturday Mar 27 05:44 PM
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Originally Posted by bbfrreak
...and you can hard knock NASA all you want.
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capnhowdy Saturday Mar 27 09:15 PM
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Originally Posted by bbfrreak
This picture was taken from 22 miles up, space is generally considered to start at 62 miles up. Maybe heard of the Kármán line?
Would it cost NASA millions to take pictures from 22 miles up? Absolutely not, its a bit unfair to compare a picture from 200 miles up to 22 miles up. Its a bit dishonest. Tell you what, find a cheap way to take a picture from 200 miles up and we can compare the two and you can hard knock NASA all you want. |
Tell YOU what..... I can hard knock NASA all I want without finding a cheap way to take pictures from 200 miles up and comparing the two.
And welcome to the Cellar.
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