We had a lot of fun with that title. Of course when you’re talking about launching a thousand ping pong balls into space there’s no end to the puns which can be made. But this is actually a fantastic initiative to get people of all ages excited about science and near-space experiments. [John Powell] offers school children the opportunity to send an experiment into space. He’s Kickstarting the next launch, which is scheduled to take place in September. This way each entrant can fly their project for free, then get the results and a certificate back once the weather-balloon-based hardware is recovered.
There is one size restriction for the program. Each experiment must fit inside of a ping pong ball. But you’ll be surprised what can be accomplished. [John] reports that the most simple, yet interesting project is to place a small marshmallow inside the ball. As it rises through the atmosphere it will grow to fill the entire ball, then be freeze-dried by the the extreme temperatures. Some are not so low-tech. There’s an image of a tiny PCB holding a DS1337 and some sensors. It’s an atmospheric data logger that will provide plenty of information to analyze upon its return.
[via Hacked Gadgets]
Your title needs some work.
As in, completely rewritten.
I think it’s perfect.
On the contrary, a lot of thought must have went into that title, but wouldn’t 1″ by 1″ CUBES be easier to ship to space that SPHERES?
Where are you going to get 1000 superfit chinese ladies to launch these ping pong balls?
Err…. a high altitude balloon would be the upper atmosphere. But that’s hardly space.
hahaha
I found a forum post for the pongsat with the DS1337:
http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/archive/index.php/t-9236.html
YES! Nice title, Mike! Now that’s journalism!!!
I just laughed so hard.
it would have been neat if they ended up selling kits so people could build their own near earth balloon experiment. we have seen so many of them, you would think the price is fairly reasonable.
Building your own is half the fun, and it is really not difficult at all. There is loads of good information out there just a google away.
First, I must said that I am embittered because such project did not exist when I was at school :)
But then I have one question : you remember those guys who sent a lego minifig at 80,000 feet for $400 including the camera/gps/3G ? There is also this $150 projects which reached 17.5miles (90.000 feet). If all the balls are filed with marshmallows, $9 per ball doesn’t seem expensive to you (for a donnation funded project) ? Of course if they are filled with lead…
Sorry, I forgot link to the second project : http://space.1337arts.com/
Us locos kick your ass.
Us locos kick your face.
Us locos kick your balls into OUTER SPACE!!!
-Johnny 5-
my bad, hadn’t seen the video in a while, it’s Los Locos.
Not “ripping off”, “unscrewing”!
This is likely the funniest HaD title I’ve ever read. Glad to see a sense of humor behind all those typos. Passive-aggressive, zing!
There isnt’t a shape less volumetrically efficient than a sphere…
I first thought the carpet from the photo was a periodic table.. But what has a lion to do with lithium?
That’s funny :-P
Nothing that I’m aware of. My guess is wrong, but I say an aid to help kids remember chemical symbols, however what I assume are chemical symbols are unfamiliar to me. Has been a long time since high school chemistry though.
“L is for Lion, M is for Moon, O is for Octopus and P is for Pig” I’m worried what chemistry you did in high school that used these items ;) :p
Maybe the lion has a little bit of bipolar disorder, mkay?
Amazing title :3 reminds me of the “Dream Theater – Innocence Faded” misheard lyrics on youtube: “the child with balls of fire!”.
holy balls batman