Eleven students in the Leffell Space Program climbed onto a school bus loaded with antennas, laptops, radios, tools, and tracking systems and headed off to launch and (hopefully) recover the program’s first high-altitude weather balloon and payload on the morning of May 11th.

This came after months of preparation and frustration as they learned that high-altitude balloon launches are extremely weather dependent. Over the past year, the students experienced multiple last-minute cancellations due to unfavorable conditions. In the days leading up to this launch, students ran predictive flight models and calculated projected ascent and descent paths in order to determine where they’d have the best chance of both a successful launch and a recoverable payload. Based on the data, Hudson, NY, 110 miles north of our school, became the target.

We called the administration of Hudson Senior High School, who graciously welcomed us onto their athletics fields to launch. Watching the students preparing for the launch with a backdrop of the Hudson Valley, it didn’t feel like a school activity anymore. It felt like mission operations.

The payload itself was designed and assembled by students in the Leffell Space Program. It carried cameras, weather sensors, tracking systems, and student-built electronics intended to survive an ascent to the edge of space. Included in the payload box was artwork created by members of our school community specifically for the mission. Attached to the system was a radio beacon........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)