What better way to end a week of studying for finals than to send a helium-filled balloon into the stratosphere, then track it down in rural Nevada?

Thats exactly what a research group of Western Nevada College students and science professors did on May 13 when they launched the high-altitude balloon from Fuji Park in Carson City. Participating students were Lori Ramm, Hamza Syed, Nathan Thornton, Mason Haynes, Cody Johnson, Monse Ramirez and Billiann Lampson.

Attached to the balloon was a payload, which included instruments and sensors so that the students could record research data from the project. Altitude, temperature, relative humidity and speed data were collected. A video camera also recorded the entire flight

The research group tracked the balloon until it burst, and the attached payload was recovered about 90 miles away in Schurz, Nev.

It was an easy retrieve, said WNC Biology and Chemistry Professor Dr. Elizabeth Tattersall. We added more helium to the balloon than we havein the past, and that did not seem to significantly affect the burst altitude.

Added Physics Professor Dr. Thomas Herring, It was quite a successful flight. For the first time our GPS system worked at all altitudes, thanks to some new Arduino coding and a lot of testing with students.