The Online Reflector

By Manny Casillas | Editorial Assistant

The Physics and Earth Space Science Department launched a high-altitude balloon into the atmosphere; the first time staff and students at UIndy have ever taken on such a task.

The balloon was launched Sept. 26, at 11:10 a.m., from the Southeastern Parkway on the eastside of Indianapolis. Headed by professors Timothy Duman and Stephen Spicklemire, the project had its origins in workshops and the desire to create new projects for science and physics majors.

“We [Duman and Spicklemire] had been thinking about it for a year, but in order to do this, it would have wiped out most of the department’s budget. So I put it on the backburner,” Duman said.

While attending a workshop at Taylor University, Duman and Spicklemire participated in the launching of several balloons. Upon returning, Duman saw the opportunity to make the launching of a balloon from UIndy a reality.

“I turn to Steve, and I go, ‘Hey, we have enough money to buy the balloon,’”  Duman said.

The balloon, made from white latex, had mounted cameras and carried a 60-foot payload tail. It traveled more than 16 miles through the atmosphere, an estimated 87,035 feet. As expected, the balloon burst as it reached the edge of space, capturing video and photographic images before falling back to Earth. The balloon was expected to land somewhere near Richmond, Ind., but instead wound up in a soybean field in Ohio.

Before the launch, Duman set out to track it, and afterwards, Spicklemire followed it on his iPhone.

“My son was helping me. He’s nine, and he was strapped to his carseat, trying to tell me where it was going. There was a suspense to it,” Spicklemire said.

The balloon was chased for two and half hours, burst about 1:30 p.m. and landed at about 2 p.m.

“It was on the ground about an hour before we got there,” Spicklemire said.

Students from both Duman and Spicklemire’s courses were involved with the launch, the first time such a project had been undertaken by the department.

“I was surprised,” said Nick Zeese, a student involved in the project. “I didn’t really think we were going to be doing this experiment.”

The students assembled the balloon themselves, and the goal was to expose them to the scientific method. The objective was to have the students design, implement and gather data from the experiment.

“Science as a whole has a hard time retaining students because the content of knowledge is so challenging,” Duman said. “So we’ve always been searching for some technique to motivate our students.”

The project was executed successfully, although certain city institutions had to be notified.

“We launched [from the park] because the university airspace is under the direct control of the Indianapolis International Airport, and they don’t like large objects flying through their airspace without them knowing about it,” Duman said.

The success of the launch has led the way for future launches, however. Duman also hopes to try and set up a tether balloon on the campus. The next balloon launch is scheduled for Dec. 5.