Giant leap as high school team in space mission

Pupils at Sheffield High School have joined forces with two university students to send a helium-filled balloon with video cameras and a tracking device around 19 miles (30km) into the atmosphere to capture images showing the curvature of the planet.

Alex Baker and Chris Rose, both PhD students from Sheffield University, sent a camera into space last year and have now repeated the feat to help deliver an inspiring science lesson for pupils at the school. The balloon was launched from the school and landed two-and-half hours later in a field in York.

Mr Baker said: “The launch was a resounding success. We set the camera to record and the data sensing equipment to log the information and then filled the balloon and let go. The balloon’s flight time was two hours and 25 minutes and from our estimates we believe it reached altitudes of just over 30km. The equipment landed safely in a field near York where we, along with pupils from the high school and their teachers, picked it up. The footage clearly shows the curvature of the earth, the thin blue line of the atmosphere and the blackness of space.

“The students involved seemed thrilled to be part of the project and were equally excited to see the brilliant images.”

The device, which was built for just £500 by Mr Baker and Mr Rose in their spare time, consisted of a foam box, a parachute for the descent and the balloon.

The electronic equipment had to be well insulated to cope with the extremely cold temperatures at high altitudes.

It also includes a GPS tracker allowing it to be recovered once it returns to Earth.