U of M students reveal results of experiments in 'near space'

Media Note: To see photos from the recent balloon launch, visit
http://www.flickr.com/photos/umn_inst_tech/

Contacts: Ryan Mathre, University News Service, (612) 625-0552, mathre@umn.edu

Rhonda Zurn, Institute of Technology, (612) 626-7959, rzurn@umn.edu

How do solar panels work in space? Can you inexpensively measure cosmic radiation? University of Minnesota students will answer these questions and share their findings from scientific experiments recently carried by a weather balloon to an altitude of more than 100,000 feet.

The students will reveal the results at a special Spaceflight with Ballooning Open House from 11 a.m. -12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 24 in the lobby and main stairwell of Akerman Hall, 110 Union St. S.E., Minneapolis. An inflated weather balloon and payload boxes will be on display. A video of the recent launch near Hinkley, Minn., will also be on display.

Students conducted the experiments as part of the class “Spaceflight with Ballooning,