About
The Security & Risk Analysis Club at Penn State started a project in early October 2009 called Project Airborne. The goal of this project is to send a weather balloon with a payload to altitudes of 100,000 feet. The payload will include scientific instruments as well as digital cameras. Set to snap a picture every 5 seconds, the cameras will capture photos of Penn State University as it ascends into the atmosphere. Additionally while at high altitudes, the cameras will capture imagery of the curvature of the Earth.
This project is being modified from a project carried out by MIT students this past summer. Their payload reached altitudes of 93,000 feet- taking 4 hours to ascend and 40 minutes to descend. Our goal is to reach the altitude of 100,000 feet while increasing the amount of cameras to gain photo perspective that the MIT project was not able to capture.
A critical part of Project Airborne is bringing students from different disciplines together to accomplish a common goal. Luckily, the Security & Risk Analysis Club attracts members from majors all across the University, giving Project Airborne a diverse background. The team is comprised of 13 students from the following majors:
- Security & Risk Analysis
- Information Sciences & Technology
- Meteorology
- Chemical Engineering
- Aerospace Engineering
- Photojournalism
Additionally, Project Airborne is supported by the SRA Club’s faculty adviser, Dr. Gerry Santoro.
