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KidsPost: The edge of the Earth

Students from the Potomac School in McLean, Va., took photos of the Earth's curvature with help from an iPad.

Middle school students from the Potomac School in McLean, Va., launched a digital camera, packed in a cooler, nearly 20 miles above the Earth using a weather balloon.
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The project was a school assignment to take photographs of the curvature of the Earth without spending more than $200.
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Shown here, Will Prout, 13, inflates the balloon before the launch in Chambersberg, Pa., on June 5.

Middle school students from the Potomac School in McLean, Va., launched a digital camera, packed in a cooler, nearly 20 miles above the Earth using a weather balloon.

The project was a school assignment to take photographs of the curvature of the Earth without spending more than $200.

Shown here, Will Prout, 13, inflates the balloon before the launch in Chambersberg, Pa., on June 5.

Bill Wiley

Potomac School Middle School students Ella Caplin, left, and Will Prout track the balloon on Prout's iPad shortly after the launch.
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Also in the cooler as it rose into the clouds was a GPS-enabled cell phone so the kids could track the balloon from the ground during ascent and descent. The phone sent regular location updates to the Internet through a program called InstaMapper.

Potomac School Middle School students Ella Caplin, left, and Will Prout track the balloon on Prout's iPad shortly after the launch.

Also in the cooler as it rose into the clouds was a GPS-enabled cell phone so the kids could track the balloon from the ground during ascent and descent. The phone sent regular location updates to the Internet through a program called InstaMapper.

Bill Wiley

The view from the balloon shortly after lift-off. The camera was programmed to shoot three photos every minute and 10 seconds of video. The kids had gone slightly over budget, spending a total of $216 on the equipment they launched into the sky.

The view from the balloon shortly after lift-off. The camera was programmed to shoot three photos every minute and 10 seconds of video. The kids had gone slightly over budget, spending a total of $216 on the equipment they launched into the sky.

Bill Wiley

Once the balloon got above the clouds, the GPS-enabled phone could no longer get a signal. The kids on the ground spent about three hours with no contact from the balloon.

Once the balloon got above the clouds, the GPS-enabled phone could no longer get a signal. The kids on the ground spent about three hours with no contact from the balloon.

Bill Wiley

At about 50,000 feet, the balloon left the troposphere and entered the stratosphere. The kids had done complex math calculations to figure out how to position the camera under the balloon so it would take pictures of the Earth's edge.
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To keep the electronics warm at this altitude, the kids put handwarmers in the cooler.

At about 50,000 feet, the balloon left the troposphere and entered the stratosphere. The kids had done complex math calculations to figure out how to position the camera under the balloon so it would take pictures of the Earth's edge.

To keep the electronics warm at this altitude, the kids put handwarmers in the cooler.

Bill Wiley

The balloon made it to about 100,000 feet after 2 hours and 32 minutes. At this level, the pressure in the atmosphere is about 1 percent of the pressure on Earth.
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As the balloon rose, it expanded from a diameter of about 6 feet on the ground to about 15 feet across at its peak. Then it popped.

The balloon made it to about 100,000 feet after 2 hours and 32 minutes. At this level, the pressure in the atmosphere is about 1 percent of the pressure on Earth.

As the balloon rose, it expanded from a diameter of about 6 feet on the ground to about 15 feet across at its peak. Then it popped.

Bill Wiley

After the balloon popped, a small parachute opened to bring the cooler back to Earth. The descent was much faster and more chaotic than the ascent so many of the photos are blurry. It took just 39 minutes to get back to the ground.

After the balloon popped, a small parachute opened to bring the cooler back to Earth. The descent was much faster and more chaotic than the ascent so many of the photos are blurry. It took just 39 minutes to get back to the ground.

Bill Wiley

The kids used a weather program to predict where the cooler and parachute would come down; they expected it would land northwest of Baltimore.
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Instead, when the cell phone signal reappeared on the InstaMapper program, it showed up on the other side of the Chesapeake Bay, shown here.

The kids used a weather program to predict where the cooler and parachute would come down; they expected it would land northwest of Baltimore.

Instead, when the cell phone signal reappeared on the InstaMapper program, it showed up on the other side of the Chesapeake Bay, shown here.

Bill Wiley

The cooler eventually landed 100 miles off course in a strawberry field next to a WalMart storage facility.
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To find the cooler once it landed, the students and teacher Bill Wiley had to drive around the rural farmlands near Middletown, Del., trying to zero in on the GPS signal coming from the cell phone inside the cooler.

The cooler eventually landed 100 miles off course in a strawberry field next to a WalMart storage facility.

To find the cooler once it landed, the students and teacher Bill Wiley had to drive around the rural farmlands near Middletown, Del., trying to zero in on the GPS signal coming from the cell phone inside the cooler.

Bill Wiley

When the group finally spotted the orange parachute lying in a field they screamed. The camera was turned off when they recovered it from the cooler, which made them think the experiment hadn't worked.
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But the camera had great pictures. Because of the handwarmers, the camera had overheated after landing and shut down.

When the group finally spotted the orange parachute lying in a field they screamed. The camera was turned off when they recovered it from the cooler, which made them think the experiment hadn't worked.

But the camera had great pictures. Because of the handwarmers, the camera had overheated after landing and shut down.

Bill Wiley

Gallery Credits:
Photo Editor, Producer Troy Witcher Text Editor Margaret Webb Pressler

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This Story Science project goes to the edge of the Earth Article \| At the Potomac School in McLean this past school year, 13 seventh- and eighth-graders signed up for a biweekly science elective that proposed this challenge: Take a photo of the curvature of the Earth and spend just $200 to do it. KidsPost: The edge of the Earth Who says learning can't be fun? Check out these iPad apps.		Network News X Profile View More Activity TOOLBOX E-Mail This Reprints		More on washingtonpost.com • More Photo News » washingtonpost.com
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