Mar 26, 2010: Journey Into Space

[Nirvana]

>>> 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 £500 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.

link

[skysidhe]

Very awesome! I am reading it right now.

[xoxoxoBruce]

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]

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]

They say it's a camera/balloon - but we KNOW it's a UFO.

[capnhowdy]

I wasn't shocked at all when NASA said it would have cost them millions to take the shots.

Imagine that.

[Sheldonrs]

If he wanted a picture of his house from space, he could have saved the money and just gone to googleearth.

[bbfrreak]

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.

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.

[xoxoxoBruce]

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

That's pretty ambiguous. First it's NASA, not Nasa. Second, millions of people work for NASA, directly or indirectly, and anybody on the phone can make that claim, to give themselves space creds. Even if it's true that he works for the agency, that doesn't mean he was calling at their request/on their behalf. Just as likely he was from the CIA or FBI... or Scotland Yard... finding out what this dude was up to.

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]

Originally Posted by bbfrreak

...and you can hard knock NASA all you want.

I'm gonna knock 'em, and I haven't flown a rocket since the seventh grade.

[capnhowdy]

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.

[rditlkustoleit]

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?!

[Gravdigr]

The ballon was made by Toyota. It was only supposed to go a hundred feet up. It. Just. Wouldn't. Stop.

[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.

[Gravdigr]

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.

Fixed it.