During the course ofย one weekend inย April last yearย 60 different teams,ย hailing fromย 18 countries, andย 6 continents, flew balloons to the edge of space in the first everย Global Space Balloon Challengeย (GSBC).
The people who built the balloons came from all walks of lifeโfrom elementary schools students in the States, to university students in Brazil, andย enthusiastic amateurs from places as far flung as Hong Kong and Australia.
For some it was the first time they hadย built, launched, and recovered their own high-altitude balloons, whilst others were veterans with tens, or even hundreds, of balloon launches.
Withย broadย challenge categories such as โBest Design,โ and โBest Experiment,โ the teams competing in last year’s challenge had a great deal ofย room to experiment.
Registration for this year’s competitionโalso to be held in Aprilโhas just opened, and so far 160 teams in 41 countries have signed up to take part.
โItโs a surreal feeling when you look at pictures of the black of space and curvature of the Earth, knowing that those came from a payload you built,โ ย David Gerson,ย President and Co-Founder of the GSBC
Teams will again compete for prizes in categories such asย โHighest Altitudeโ and โBest Design,โ and for those returning for a second year with themselvesโthe altitude record set last year was by NC Near Space Research’s NSL-20 flight whichย exceeded 43.2 km (approximately 142,000 ft) in altitude.
NSL-20 at 142,022 ft
With tutorialsย and community forumsย to help beginners get started, and unlike traditional space projectsโeven with a free launchย thrown in by NASAย a modestly builtย CubeSatย can cost tens of thousands of dollarsโit’s easy for teams to get started. For around $500, and a few weekends of work, a team with no prior experienceย can send a package to the edge of space.
The Global Space Balloon Challenge 2015
The majority of last year’s teams builtย their payloads using an Arduino or aย Raspberry Pi, or smartphones and tablets with data-logging applications. They usedย off-the-shelfย GPS units, and cameras hacked with high-capacity batteries, and they held it all together with 3D printed parts and miles of gaffer tape.
Organised by volunteers at universities and in the aerospace industry this year’s challenge is shaping up to be a larger event than last year. The people that took last year’s challenge, whether they were beginners or high-altitude veterans, were makers like you. Do you have what it takes to join them?
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