Tuesday, September 15, 2009

The $150 Space Camera: MIT Students Beat NASA On Beer-Money Budget

The two students ( from MIT, of course ) put together a low-budget rig to fly a camera high enough to photograph the curvature of the Earth. Instead of rockets, boosters and expensive control systems, they filled a weather balloon with helium and hung a styrofoam beer cooler underneath to carry a cheap Canon A470 compact camera. Instant hand warmers kept things from freezing up and made sure the batteries stayed warm enough to work.

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