[JimmyDranox]

A very interesting usage for this tiny camera was made by a group of students, called Earth to Sky Calculus. They have launched this camera with a stratospheric balloon, up to 115,000 feet - 35 000 meters, above California's Sierra Nevada, capturing fantastic images. I must mention that the camera withstand temperatures of - 65 degrees Celsius, and a thermal pack was used to keep the batteries warm.

A picture before the launch:

Theta Image

A ''low'' altitude image. The baloon and the Sun can be seen:

Theta Image

A high altitude one:

Theta Image

A spectacular shot of the moment after the balloon has exploded;

Theta Image

Here is the group Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/Earth-to-Sky-Calculus-174490502634920/

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Last edited by Adam; 02-29-2016 at 08:11 PM. Reason: added spherical bbcode

[ChipB]

That's really neat!! Thanks for sharing.

[Adam]

Very cool! I added spherical bbcode to your post to embed the pics

[JimmyDranox]

Thanks. It's much better now.

[DavidDwight]

So if the balloon exploded I assume the camera fell back to earth and that's how they retrieved the image data? Wonder how they find a theta in a hay stack.

[UncleVanya]

So if the balloon exploded I assume the camera fell back to earth and that's how they retrieved the image data? Wonder how they find a theta in a hay stack.

Typically a parachute is deployed and a radio and or gps system is used to track the payload down.

[johnmflores]

very cool!

[Mikesul]

This is great! The facebook site has a video of the balloon landing on a mountain. Fine testimony to our little camera.

[JimmyDranox]

And so, in my list for future acquisitions the place for some lenses was taken by a Ricoh Theta S and a powerful enough quadcopter. Is not outer space, but is the best use for this camera I can think of.