Gimhae High School Students Capture Earth Images Using 'Camera Balloon'

Clear images of Geoje, Namhae, and Daemado captured
Burst due to pressure after approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes of flight

Students from a high school science club in the Gyeongnam region successfully launched a balloon equipped with a camera into space to capture images of the Earth.

According to Bunsung High School in Gimhae on the 31st of last month, 11 students from the science club "Air Craft" released a 1200g helium-filled balloon on the 5th of the same month at an open field in Sangbuk-myeon, Yangsan City.

Attached beneath the balloon were a camera, various sensors to measure atmospheric pressure, ozone, and ultraviolet rays, as well as a GPS (Global Positioning System) fixed inside a styrofoam box.

The Science Club Aircraft of Bunsung High School in Gimhae captured this photo of Geoje City, Gyeongnam (right), and Tsushima Island, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, taken from a balloon launched into the stratosphere on the 5th.
[Photo by Bunsung High School Cyber Science Museum YouTube]

The balloon they launched flew for about 1 hour and 40 minutes before bursting due to pressure.

Teacher Han Byung-hyun, their advisor, said, "Considering the gas pressure and the balloon's ascent speed, it seems the balloon reached an altitude of 33 km, which is in the stratosphere." The camera inside the balloon clearly recorded Goseong City and Namhae County in Gyeongnam, as well as Tsushima Island in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan.

Teacher Han explained, "During the flight, Typhoon 'Khanun' sucked air from below the west side of the Korean Peninsula, and unlike usual, the wind blew from east to west, which allowed the experiment to succeed."

The video is uploaded on the Bunsung High School Cyber Science Museum YouTube channel under the title "Beautiful Footage Taken by a Camera Sent to Space Full Version."
[Photo by Kimhae Bunsung High School Cyber Science Museum YouTube]

He added, "Thanks to calculations regarding the amount of helium gas, its interaction with the atmosphere, ascent and descent speeds, and GPS, we were able to predict the landing location. Finding the debris of the burst balloon, including the camera, after the successful flight is a highly challenging project."

The debris was found in Mujeon-ri, Uiryeong-eup, Uiryeong County, Gyeongnam, about 100 km from the launch site. Although they succeeded in launching a balloon last year, they were unable to find the debris because it could not withstand the stratospheric temperature of minus 50 degrees Celsius.

The video is uploaded on Bunsung High School's Cyber Science Museum YouTube channel under the title "Beautiful Footage Taken by a Camera Sent to Space Full Version."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.