MONROE, N.C. — A student team at Monroe's Central Academy of Technology and Arts is among a group of 60 winners of a NASA STEM challenge, and will now get to work preparing their proposed design for a high-altitude balloon ready for a test flight.
The team from CATA proposed a high-altitude balloon to study greenhouse gases as part of the TechRise Student Challenge, which is in its third year. Their design was among the lucky winners picked, earning them $1,500 and the necessary support to build and test the experiment. The team will get a flight box in which to build the balloon, an assigned spot to test the experiment on a NASA-sponsored flight, and technical support during the build phase from Future Engineers advisors who will also help the team learn the skills needed to make it all a reality. Updates will be shared online.
The CATA team's balloon will aim to track information about the amount or type of greenhouse gases and radiation at specific measures, like times or altitudes, during the flight. It also will be equipped to track humidity levels. The team's model for the balloon utilizes lessons learned about engineering design, computer programming, electronics, and atmospheric conditions.
“Cultivating creativity and curiosity and inspiring students to pursue STEM careers is one of NASA’s most important missions,” said Prasun Desai, deputy associate administrator, Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “TechRise is a unique opportunity that allows students to gain hands-on knowledge while developing real payloads for flight, and it’s an experience they can carry with them during their educational and early career journeys.”
The balloon experiment will be tested with about four hours of flight time at an altitude of about 70,000 feet, facing exposure to the Earth's upper atmosphere, high-altitude radiation, and perspective views of Earth.