Near space is the region of the Earth’s atmosphere that lies between 20 and 100 km above mean sea level (AMSL).  It encompasses the stratosphere, mesosphere and the lower thermosphere. The project was to fly scientific payloads, to near space region, for a fraction of the cost of a space experiment. The team of Akshata Nayak, A. G. Sreejith, M. Safonova and Jayant Murthy of Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore carried out this experiment.

Payload components

The team used a 3 kg balloon for this experiment. The payload consisted of a Canon Ixus115HS camera, MSR145 data logger and the GPS unit.

We have presented the description and results of the three tethered experiments carried out in the Centre for Research and Education in Science and Technology (CREST) campus, IIA, Hosakote. The data logger used in these experiments gave satisfactory results and we could study the atmospheric profile at altitudes from about 100 to 400 m. The GPS locations were provided by the tracker every 10 sec and helped us to follow the balloon path. The camera helped in capturing the video for 1 h duration. The atmospheric interdependent parameter (pressure, temperature, altitude) behaviour was studied in the lower troposphere using tethered flights. The repeatability of the tethered flight results needs to be verified. We are anticipating the set of approvals for free-floating balloons soon to begin stratospheric observations.