Near-Space Photo Project

I loved model rocketry as a kid, and I always wanted one of those rockets with a camera.  This project looks to be much cooler.  Although the coolness factor of this project is reduced by the fervor surrounding the success of MIT students' near-space photos, this is still going to be lots of fun.

Essentially, I hope to take pictures with a camera attached to a weather balloon.  The students I linked above give nearly step by step instructions, so this should be obscenely easy.  All you need are a sounding balloon (already ordered, $30 for 2), a camera (Canon, to take advantage of the firmware needed to take pictures at a given time interval), a cell phone (to provide GPS tracking to locate the thing after it lands, $50), and a vehicle.  I think I'll just steal the styrofoam cooler idea for the vehicle, although I think I'll use a streamer instead of a parachute.  Then you need extra batteries for the cell phone (although maybe not), and some heat packs (also maybe not needed).

The camera firmware is CHDK, and the tracking will be done with InstaMapper.  I'll just buy the cell phone from Best Buy; a used camera will be the hard thing to find.

Cell phone coverage is a worry.  To get GPS data from the phone, it'll need reception.  The coverage map for boostmobile above will suggest launch location.


I'll use this Balloon Trajectory Forecast tool to try to figure where the thing will land.  Here's what the trajectory might have looked like today:

 

Here, the vehicle ended up almost 50 miles away, 30 miles northwest of Richmond, 10 miles from Kings Dominion.  This would be bad, as this is not quite in cell phone range, it seems.  Of course, this will change day-to-day.

More to come on preparations for launch!