'To infinity and UNB-eyond': students launch weather balloon to the edge of space
With a shared love of engineering and aerospace, three UNB students put their heads together to reach impressive heights in their aerospace research.
"In the COVID year, we were compromising a lot in our studies and we were missing the hands on aspect learning engineering, which is a very hands on subject to learn, so I was feeling like I should make that up,” says engineering student Jagriti Luitel.
So Luitel and two engineering classmates, Ryan Whitney and John Estafanos, came up with the idea of creating a weather balloon and launching it to the edge of space and back.
"We were all in air cadets and we were all interested in aerospace, even though I'm an electrical engineer my interests do kind of vary all over the place,” said Whitney.
The three students formed a team called StratoFredericton and sorted out the science, legality and funding of the ‘out-of-this-world’ project.
Their first launch was a bust, literally, as the balloon burst.
The team's second launch exceeded expectations, and with three GoPros attached, they got to see their hard work pay off from three different angles.
"To the edge of space, so that is around 100,000 feet and our project got to a height of 103,000 feet and we had several purposes to the actual project which was taking pictures and video of the edge of space and getting data from the stratosphere,” Luitel said.
It wasn't all smooth sailing though. The GPS device they attached that said it worked up to 60,000 feet stopped working at ten.
Locating the device took some luck.
"We were very stressed out we drove out to where we expected the balloon to be, we waited a couple hours, nothing, we thought we failed again, we were kind of sad but then some kayakers called us and they found our payload on the lake,” Whitney said.
Along with the experiment they also wanted to share an important global message and encourage young people, especially girls' interest in STEM.
"By adding a climate message from a local climate organization called NBEN which stands for New Brunswick Environmental Network, and we wanted a picture of that poster in front of in front of the curvature of the earth to inspire youth to care more about the climate,” Luitel said.
“I, personally, being a female just wanted to encourage other girls to take initiative and leadership on projects like this,” she said.
UNB students sending their extracurricular project into the stratosphere, and inspiring us all to go above and beyond our limits.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. tenants evicted for landlord's use after refusing large rent increase to take over neighbouring suite
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
Expert warns of food consumption habits amid rising prices
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, shoots 81 in U.S. Open qualifier
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
Ex-tabloid publisher testifies he scooped up possibly damaging tales to shield his old friend Trump
As Donald Trump was running for president in 2016, his old friend at the National Enquirer was scooping up potentially damaging stories about the candidate and paying out tens of thousands of dollars to keep them from the public eye.
Here's why provinces aren't following Saskatchewan's lead on the carbon tax home heating fight
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would still send Canada Carbon Rebate cheques to Saskatchewan residents, despite Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe's decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas or home heating, questions were raised about whether other provinces would follow suit. CTV News reached out across the country and here's what we found out.
Montreal actress calls Weinstein ruling 'discouraging' but not surprising
A Montreal actress, who has previously detailed incidents she had with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, says a New York Court of Appeals decision overturning his 2020 rape conviction is 'discouraging' but not surprising.
Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye make it four NFL drafts with quarterbacks going 1-3
Caleb Williams is heading to the Windy City, aiming to become the franchise quarterback Chicago has sought for decades.