Launch and mission control are school based. Experiment, housekeeping, and location telemetry are broadcast real time from the capsule. The payload is tracked by groups of students and radio amateur enthusiasts as the balloon is carried by upper-level winds.
Effort is placed on recovery of the payload.
The series of flights is a vehicle for teaching and learning technology. We want to spark the student's interest in science, math, technology and the U.S. space program in a rich and wholesome way. In doing so, many of us are donating our time and talents as a public service to our local community, to share the thrill of good science and the spinoffs of the Amateur Radio hobby with middle school and high school students. The students learn valuable lessons about the design of experiments, satellite flight preparation, telemetry, GPS, computers, recovery techniques and much more. Engineers, apply within.