TECHRISE STUDENT CHALLENGE

The flight was sponsored by NASA's Flight Opportunities program under the TechRise Student Challenge that gives student teams a chance to design and build science and technology experiments for flight on balloons, enabling them to collect data on a variety of space exploration and Earth observation experiments in areas such as remote sensing, climate, and human health to name a few.

This flight hosted experiments from students from 20 middle and high schools of the United States. One of the experiments from Dickson Middle School in Tennessee examined the effect of solar radiation on synthetic skin samples and the efficacy of various types of sunblock. It was aimed to obtain factual data to consider how to prevent skin damage in the upper atmosphere. Another experiment called AMONGUS (Atmospheric Measurement of Noxious Gases Using Sensors) that was developed by Sewanhaka High School in Floral Park, New York, used sensors and image data to research the effect of greenhouse gases on climate change.

Balloon launched on: 6/14/2023 at 12:49 utc
Launch site: Hurley, South Dakota, US  
Balloon launched by: Aerostar
Balloon manufacturer/size/composition: Zero Pressure Balloon  
Flight identification number: HBAL630
End of flight (L for landing time, W for last contact, otherwise termination time): 6/12/2023 at 20:10 utc (L)
Balloon flight duration (F: time at float only, otherwise total flight time in d:days / h:hours or m:minutes - ): 7 h 20 m
Landing site: 6 km south of Alcester, South Dakota, US

• Aerostar website  
• Interactive flight path of the balloon obtained via ADS-B Exchange
• Rising to the Challenge: NASA TechRise Student Teams Take Flight NASA Armstrong website