Via MAKE Magazine by Collin Cunningham
Three MIT students grabbed pics from space using basic off-the-shelf parts and minimal hacking -
On Sept. 2, 2009, we launched a digital camera into near-space to take photographs of the earth from high up above. (see « Flight »)
Several groups have accomplished similar feats (see « Other Launches »), but as far we know, we are the first group ever to:(1) Complete such a launch on a budget of $150 total. All of our supplies (including camera, GPS tracking, weather balloon, and helium) were purchased for less than a grand total of $150.
(2) Create a launch vehicle without the use of any electronic hacking. We used off-the-shelf items exclusively (i.e., no electronic chips or soldering) to create our launch vehicle
They used a cooler + chemical hand-warming packets to keep the electronics operating at low temperatures. Head over to 1337arts for the flight pics & details. [via Slashdot]
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