Did you ever stop and wonder about the various triviata involved in launching a weather balloon? Me, neither.
Apparently, though, there is quite a bit more to it than "1) Put helium in balloon. 2) Let go of balloon."
Neat.
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Well, actually, yes I do.
We had to make one in 10th grade Science class.
I was in the garage with three hair dryers checking the thing for leaks when I realized that my life wasn't like the cool kids on television.
I got an A but my balloon had a less than spectular in flight; it was recovered near Gas City. Oh, well, the first air mail delivery had problems too.
Shootin' Buddy
We found one in the middle of the street last year. At first I didn't know what it was.
The parachute was tangled around the balloon, and never fully opened. Geeks that we are, we took it apart. It had a GPS unit, transmitter, and what we assumed were numerous pressure/temperature/humidity instruments attached to a circuit card, all powered by a couple of AA sized batteries.
It was cool to play with.
One of my duties at the last job I had involved maintaining the weather system we had, and launching the balloons with the radiosondes on them.
It was a gas, no pun intended.
Years ago, I found the remains of a balloon on a hillside in a remote area. Never found the radiosonde, though.
I wondered how those things worked. Thanks for reminding me to look it up.
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