From the Sci-Tech ARS Newsletter, January 1, 2020:
Charlie Burs, WA3ITR, will talk about high-altitude ballooning (HAB) and his HAB project at New England Sci-Tech. Any teens who are members of STARS or NEST can participate for free.
Charlie says “The goals are to get young people involved in an HAB project, which has Amateur radio (an APRS tracker device) with STEM learning. They will learn about project planning, platform testing, launching, tracking, and recovery of the balloon and its payload, and flight data analysis. The platform will carry up to 3 GoPro cameras, a commercial GPS tracker, and the APRS tracker. A 20-foot tether connects the platform to the HAB balloon, which is filled with helium or hydrogen, and is about 8 feet in diameter at launch. The platform will weigh less than four pounds.”
As the balloon ascends, the APRS tracker will provide location info, pressure, temperature, altitude and a few more items in its telemetry. At around 90,000 feet after a two- to three-hour ascent, the balloon will have expanded to over 30 feet in diameter when it explodes and the package starts its return to earth by parachute so the team can recover the data.