MEDIA ADVISORY: Area students to complete near-space balloon project with May 10 launch
May 8, 2012
CANTON, Miss. – Students from five area schools will gather Thursday, May 10 to launch and retrieve a near-space balloon. The event concludes a yearlong project that has asked the groups to explore advanced scientific theories and ideas.
Students will assemble on Canton High School’s front lawn at 7 a.m. to begin preparing the balloon and testing the equipment, with the launch to follow at 9:15 a.m. In addition to students from Canton High, the project includes groups from Canton Elementary, McNeal Elementary, Nichols Middle, and the Canton School of Art.
The balloon, which will almost reach 100,000 feet in altitude before it begins its descent, will contain equipment and small experiments to allow the students to gather data for further study. The payload includes photo and video equipment, and plant seeds so the students can observe the effects of altitude on plant development.
Called STEP1, the balloon will contain GPS and voice beacons to allow people to track its progress towards space. It will broadcast on the shortwave radio frequency 144.390 megahertz or KF5OGII-1. It can also be tracked online at APRS.FI.
Event organizers expect more than 200 students to be in attendance at the event.
The near-space balloon project is part of the Student Technology Exchange Program, a shared partnership between NASA and the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems-Extension, of Mississippi State’s Bagley College of Engineering. This is the second year that the center has partnered with the Canton School District for the project.
For more information about the STEP program or the near-space balloon project, contact Victor Branch.
NEWS EDITORS: Students will be available for interviews following the launch. In addition to program adviser Victor Branch, two students have been identified as points-of-contact. Anthony Denton and Sammy Brown, seniors from Canton High School, will be prepared to speak. They can be identified by any of the event organizers or the “Ask me about our balloon” pins they will be wearing.