Team BHALDI introduced near-space ballooning to over 250 Inver Grove Heights students. We’ll be working with the students and their teachers over the next several months to help them design and launch their own payloads into near-space! Let us know if you’re interested in having Team BHALDI work with your school and coordinate design/launch activities.
Sep
30
BHALDI Receives NASA Grant
BHALDI is the honored recipient of a NASA Summer of Innovation Mini-Grant. This award will allow BHALDI to help local teachers and students design and launch digital cameras and other data-capturing equipment into near-space.
Thanks NASA!
Aug
12
BHALDI featured in the HOBO e-news
BHALDI featured in the July HOBO e-news!
(HOBOs are the brand of data loggers we used this spring and will use in our next launch – stay tuned)
May
08
May
07
Great day today – more photos to come
Thanks to everyone who came out today for the launch and/or who tracked us online. Unfortunately we had technical difficulties with both video cameras, but the still cameras captured some great shots.
We also received some great press. The launch was covered on WCCO at 5pm
May
06
Launch Tomorrow (May 7th)!
Things are coming together for the launch of BHALDIs III and IV tomorrow!
Please join us! Event starts @ 9:45 at Oakwood Elementary in Plymouth. Details here, including instructions on how to track the balloons in real-time on a map and how to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Payloads are coming together nicely. We are packing our Recovery Vehicles with telescoping poles, canoes, a chainsaw, slingshots, etc.
Based on computer models, the balloons will start going NW and then make a RH turn back around to go ESE. They will likely be above 25,000 feet before they leave the Plymouth area and will cross the metro area well above 30,000 feet. The path may cross near the airport, but the balloons will be over 38,000 feet by then – well above any air traffic. We both are projecting the balloons to land near Hastings – not ideal – closer to the river than we would like. The river could get in the way of the recoveries – we’re keeping our fingers crossed for decent luck.
Since we have weather passing through overnight we think there is a decent chance the models will change more substantially than they normally would within the last 18 hours. We’ll re-run in the morning and see where we are.
Speaking of weather, it is looking decent – rain if any will be very light and the forecast is ‘partly cloudy’ at launch. Winds are expected to be very calm.
May
03
Upcoming Launch! Saturday May 7th!
Saturday, May 7th, 9:45 – Noon
Oakwood Elementary School
17340 County Road 6, Plymouth, MN 55447
Rain Date: May 21st
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FREE!
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Doors open at 9:45, Program at 10 , launches at 10:45 & 11:15, Hands-on activities until noon
The BHALDI Team and The Works plan to launch 2 weather balloons into near space! Each balloon will carry a payload consisting of still cameras, HD video cameras, and other data capturing equipment such as thermometers, altimeters, barometers… possibly even a Geiger counter. The balloons will travel to an altitude of over 90,000 ft (17 miles!) before the balloons pop and parachutes bring the payloads back to earth. Each payload will include GPS tracking devices that will transmit their location to a website where everyone can track each balloon’s progress and see where it lands!
The Works is inviting interested families to come and participate in the launch and other science and engineering activities. Prior to launch, the launch team will conduct ademonstration of how the balloons, parachutes, and payloads are assembled and how the team determines howmuch helium to use. The launch team also will show a map that predicts the path of the balloon from launch to landing. After the launch, our launch team will set out to retrieve the balloons (they will likely land a couple hours away in Wisconsin), and families can follow the balloons in real-time and get reports from the retrieval team via Mission Control. This is the perfect opportunity for families to participate in an innovative hands-on project! Coordinated by B.H.A.L.D.I. and The Friends of The Works with support from the University of Minnesota Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics Department.
Oct
31
1st Launch: Halloween 2010
On Halloween 2010 the BHALDI team launched its first 2 systems, BHALDI I and BHALDI II:
BHALDI I
BHALDI II
We retrieved BHALDI II late in the afternoon from a resident of rural WI near Arcadia, north and east of Winona MN. We located BHALDI I a bit west of BHALDI II, but were unable to retrieve it that day and had to return 2 days later, eventually cutting down the small diameter tree it had landed in.
Despite difficulty retrieving BHALDI I, the launch was a huge success! Click here to access more video on the BHALDI YouTube Channel and here for links to more pictures.
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BHALDI V Pics
