High school students can send experiments flying through NASA competition

January 22, 2010 —The sky is not the limit. At least that’s the message NASA is trying to give high school students in its newest nationwide competition. NASA is inviting teams of four or more students to design and build an experiment or technology demonstration to be sent to the near space environment of the stratosphere, an altitude of 100,000 feet. The Balloonsat High Altitude Flight competition will launch on a NASA weather balloon May 25-27 in Cleveland. To participate, student teams in grades nine through 12 must submit a research or flight demonstration proposal to NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland by February 19. A successful project proposal will demonstrate that the student team members understand the scientific and engineering principles involved in their proposal, and resources are available for successful completion of the project. Teams must also show that they are prepared to design and build the experimental apparatus in time for Flight Days. A panel of engineers and scientists at Glenn will evaluate and select four top-ranked proposals by March 5. The top four teams will then be awarded travel expenses and up to $1,000 to develop their flight experiment or technology demonstration. Teams will participate in three flight days to release, track and recover their experiments. In addition, students will tour Glenn facilities and present their findings at Glenn's Balloonsat Symposium. NASA will host an informational webcast about the competition January 27 from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. EST. A link to the webcast and additional information about Balloonsat High Altitude Flight is available here. Other key dates, which are subject to change, include: § February 19, 2010 — Proposals due via email and fax by 11:59 p.m. § March 5, 2010 — Team selections announced § May 17, 2010 — Experiment package shipment due at GRC § May 25-27, 2010 — Flight Days at GRC § June 25, 2010 — Final report due via email § July 9, 2010 — “Best Payload 2010”

Launch of Flight 2007A. Photo credit: Balloonsat A balloon experiment platform. Photo credit: Balloonsat NASA GRC Explorers Post 632 members prepare payload for Flight 2009A. Photo credit: Balloonsat

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