What useful things can be shot into the stratosphere? Budding scientists and engineers are being invited to figure that out. Tomorrow is the deadline for the annual BalloonSat High Altitude Flight competition. U.S. high school students propose science experiments that are launched high above the earth, using weather balloons as satellites.

Projects have included light and temperature sensors, cosmic ray detection, 3-D photography and video image transmission, and even upper-atmospheric exposure on rubber bands, seeds, and mold. A panel of NASA scientists and engineers will select eight finalists to design and construct their projects.

Then mark your calendars for May 18-20, 2011, to watch the Flight Days competition online. On those dates, the winning projects will be launched near Cleveland, Ohio, almost 100,000 feet into Earth’s upper atmosphere.

On left, marshmallow recovered from the stratosphere

That height—the stratosphere—is much higher than commercial aircraft fly, and the atmospheric conditions are similar to those on Mars. Just take a look at what happened to a marshmallow shot into the stratosphere! To learn more, visit the BalloonSat website, view photos or the webcast of last year’s competition, or read about NASA’s Research and Operations Facilities. Interested in other science and technology challenges? Visit Challenge.gov.

Related posts:

  1. NIH and FDA announce awards to advance regulatory science The National Institutes of Health will award $9.4 million over three years to support four research projects in regulatory science. This research is conducted in partnership with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which will contribute approximately $950,000. These projects will better inform scientists and regulatory reviewers alike about medical product safety, and improve the […]...
  2. Optogenetics project takes top NIDA Addiction Science Award A project that maps dopamine circuits in the prefrontal cortex through optogenetic manipulation was given top honors in this year’s annual Addiction Science Awards at the 2012 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) — the world’s largest science competition for high school students. The awards were presented by the National Institute on Drug Abuse […]...
  3. TSA Blog and “Secure Flight” Visit the TSA Blog to join the discussion on the checkpoint screening process at American airports. One of the current topics is Secure Flight, a program intended to enhance security and reduce the risk of watch list misidentification. Find out how Secure Flight will affect you....
  4. MedicareCard.com – U.S. Commerce Department, NIH, NSF Announce Challenge The U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Administration (EDA), today announced a new $12 million innovation competition, in partnership with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF)....
  5. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke Announces Winners of i6 Challenge U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke today announced the winners of the i6 Challenge, a new $12 million innovation competition led by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA), in partnership with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Locke made the announcement during his keynote remarks at an […]...
  6. Challenges public to help bring discovery into the classroom A new competition seeks to bring hands-on science into classrooms nationwide. The National Institutes of Health’s K-12 Lessons About Bioscience (LAB) Challenge asks teachers, students, parents, scientists, and science enthusiasts to submit their favorite experiments for elementary, middle, and high school students. The best experiments will become part of an official collection that NIH will […]...
  7. Medicare STAR METRICS, New Way to Measure the Impact of Federally Funded Research A new initiative promises to monitor the impact of federal science investments on employment, knowledge generation, and health outcomes. The initiative–Science and Technology for America’s Reinvestment: Measuring the Effect of Research on Innovation, Competitiveness and Science, or STAR METRICS–is a multi-agency venture led by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and […]...
  8. National Institutes of Health on World AIDS Day 2009 On Dec. 1, the National Institutes of Health joins the global community in commemorating World AIDS Day. On this occasion, we remember the more than 25 million people who have lost their lives to this terrible disease, and dedicate ourselves to meeting the needs of the many millions more who are living with HIV/AIDS. We also recognize their families, caregivers, and communities, who are coping every day with the burden of this disease....
  9. “Secure Flight” Starts for Travelers Last week, one of my loyal readers, emailed me about a call she received from her airline regarding travel plans she booked months ago. The call stated that if she did not provide her full name, birth date and some other information for her flight, she wouldn’t get her boarding pass. By coincidence, I had recently booked […]...
  10. World Freedom Day Today is World Freedom Day, commemorating the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989. After the fall of the wall, borders opened, and free elections took place in eastern Europe. The Cold War seems so distant to me now, even though it is recent history. Who could forget President Ronald Reagan’s famous “Tear […]...
  11. Medicare, NIH makes a splash at USA Science and Engineering Festival The National Institutes of Health is making waves with exciting exhibits and special science performances at the inaugural USA Science and Engineering Festival this weekend, Oct. 23-24, on the National Mall. The festival is aimed at making science fun, intriguing, and accessible to people of all ages. NIH will feature a mammoth exhibit at National […]...
  12. NIH Seeks to Break New Ground in Reducing Health Disparities The National Institutes of Health today launched a multidisciplinary network of experts who will explore new approaches to understanding the origins of health disparities, or differences in the burden of disease among population groups. Using state-of-the-science conceptual and computational models, the network’s goal is to identify important areas where interventions or policy changes could have […]...
  13. Medicare, Statement from NIDDK Director Griffin P. Rodgers for National Diabetes Month, World Diabetes Day The National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP), an initiative of the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is pleased to recognize November as National Diabetes Awareness Month and Nov. 14 as World Diabetes Day. This year, NDEP is raising awareness about the importance of preventing type 2 diabetes by focusing […]...
  14. World Asthma Day: NIH research advances help people with asthma Today, the National Institutes of Health joins with public health officials, health organizations, and patient groups around the world to recognize World Asthma Day....
  15. Clean Energy Business Plan Competition The U.S. Department of Energy is holding six competitions across the nation that seek to create a new generation of entrepreneurs to address energy challenges. Learn more about these competitions....