Rapid is delighted to be sponsoring a school’s mission to capture the moment the sun rises over the Earth’s horizon.
It is the third Near Space project that sixth form students from Queen Mary’s Grammar School in Walsall have undertaken, following two previous missions that sent balloons into the stratosphere.
Last year the ‘Project Horizon’ team attempted to beat the altitude reached by Felix Baumgartner in his world record freefall, and in 2013 the school
captured some spectacular footage of their first flight 32km above the Earth’s surface.
This year is possibly the biggest challenge yet for the 13 team members, who won their places on the project through a rigorous application and interview process. Not only do they have to build the on-board flight computer with a radio transmitter and GPS tracking, but develop a mathematical model to predict the time at which the sun will first be visible over the curvature of the Earth from the stratosphere. The probe will then be launched from the Welsh countryside on the basis of the mathematical calculations with the ultimate objective to photograph and record footage of the sun rising at an altitude of 30km.
The experience and knowledge the school has developed over the last three years has been invaluable to the students involved, many of whom have gone on to study science and engineering at university. The teachers and students are also in a position in which they can mentor other schools. This year the ‘Project Horizon’ team will be teaching three enriched science lessons about Space in a local primary school, as well as exhibiting and talking about the Sun Chaser mission at Birmingham’s Thinktank Science Museum.
The team are making good progress towards the two Sun Chaser flights, the first of which is due to take place in April. The launch site will be from the school's Welsh centre in the village of Farchynys in southern Snowdonia, chosen because of its lack of light pollution. The prototype flight computer, using an Arduino board, is nearly ready and the sunrise calculator has been modified to take into account the refraction of sunlight caused by the Earth’s atmosphere. The students have been getting their first taste of soldering, while funds were raised for the project recently with a samosa sale.
Rapid supports 'Project Horizon' by supplying key electronic components, tools and equipment.
http://horizon.qmgs.walsall.sch.uk