  High-altitude balloon experiments are becoming very popular among
universities and research institutes as they can be used for testing
instruments eventually intended for space, and for simple astronomical
observations of Solar System objects like the Moon, comets, and asteroids,
difficult to observe from the ground due to atmosphere. Further, they are one
of the best platforms for atmospheric studies. In this experiment, we build a
simple 1U CubeSat and, by flying it on a high-altitude balloon to an altitude
of about 30 km, where the total payload weighted 4.9 kg and examine how some
parameters, such as magnetic field, humidity, temperature or pressure, vary as
a function of altitude. We also calibrate the magnetometer to remove the hard
iron and soft iron errors. Such experiments and studies through a stratospheric
balloon flights can also be used to study the performance of easily available
commercial sensors in extreme conditions as well. We present the results of the
first flight, which helped us study the functionality of the various sensors
and electronics at low temperatures reaching about -40 degrees Celsius. Further
the motion of the payload has been tracked throughout this flight. This
experiment took place on 8 March 2020 from the CREST campus of the Indian
Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore. Using the results from this flight, we
identify and rectify the errors to obtain better results from the subsequent
flights.
