In the past (2001-2009) Space tourism was costing something between $20 and $35 million. [wikipedia]
Now Space X offers the trip for less, but still too expensive for me…
If I can not go to space, space will come to me. So I decided to send a caméra to actually “see” space.
I found out that my idea is not new, some people have done it before. I thought about sending a balloon in the stratosphere. At this altitude (+/- 35km) we can already see the curvature of earth and the darkness of space.
First problem:
Find a light gas that’s not too expensive. Helium gas is the best choice but a bit expensive (count 35$ to fill one m² balloon).
I thought about the lightest gas : hydrogen. It’s a good gas because you can make it yourself (electrolysis) and it’s lighter than helium. BUT it’s maybe too dangerous due to his explosion risks…
Second problem:
It’s not legal in my country (and the rest of Europe) to send a balloon at this altitude without a permission delivered by the civil aviation organisation. So I have to ask them the permission.
Third problem:
Risk of collision with an aircraft :) the risk is not to neglect! I have to install a “Radar Reflector”, it’s a piece of aluminium that reflects radar waves from aircrafts, so they can detect and avoid my balloon. (I’ll make it myself)
Fourth problem:
Find back my balloon: once the balloon is sent, it will fly till 35km of altitude, then he will explode because of low temperatures in the stratosphere, after that he’ll fall down back to earth.
The object can land 100 kilometers away from the starting point. For this reason I have to install a GPS module that will send his coordinates via a phone. He will send an sms every 10 minutes to my phone with geographic coordinates.
(If someone has a better idea, don’t hesitate to tell me)
Fifth problem:
The fall to earth will be at very high speed. To avoid the crash of my device (caméra, gps module, radar reflector…) I have to install a parachute. (if someone can help with that, it would be great!)
So that’s my project, a lot of problems to solve :D But at the end (maybe) I’ll have cool pictures and videos to share!!
