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Ultra Low Cost Space Photography

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By Barry Ritholtz - September 22nd, 2009, 7:23AM

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2 MIT students put together Project Icarus — an ultra low cost rig which they lofted a digital camera via weather balloon to the edge of space.

Ingredients: Helium, a styrofoam beer cooler, a cheap Canon A470 camera, and instant hand warmers to prevent the camera batteries from freezing.

They added a prepaid GPS-equipped cellphone for tracking to recover the rig when it landed back to earth.

Total cost: $148.

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Sources:
Project Icarus

http://space.1337arts.com/

The $150 Edge-of-Space Camera: MIT Students Beat NASA On Beer-Money Budget
Charlie Sorrel
Wired, September 15, 2009

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/09/the-150-space-camera-mit-students-beat-nasa-on-beer-money-budget

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2 Responses to “Ultra Low Cost Space Photography”

  1. Simon Says:
    September 22nd, 2009 at 5:08 pm

    Now that is worthy of MIT!

    Did you know that you can study the entire syllabus at MIT from the comfort of your own lounge? Even if you have mastered th material you won’t be allowed to sit the exams or be awarded the degree. My guess is that this will change eventually.

  2. Strato-camera! « Secret Weapon Science Says:
    September 22nd, 2009 at 11:49 pm

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