Ridgecrest STEM High Altitude Balloon Reaches the Edge of Space

The meeting featured a presentation by Greg Summerlin and his student team on their high-altitude balloon project, which aims to reach the edge of space. They detailed the STEM program's structure, the balloon's technical setup with GPS and LoRaWAN tracking, and the use of a custom-built antenna array for live image transmission. The team shared video footage and images from previous launches, discussed challenges like battery life and tracking at high altitudes, and explained their use of the Helium network for data relay. This was the topic of the August 3rd Beginner's Academy Zoom.