Many UC Berkeley students have sky-high ambitions, but this weekend some are going to new heights.
Members of the East Bay Amateur Radio Club and UC Berkeley’s radio club are teaming up to launch a high-altitude balloon to near-space, and they are inviting the public to come track its journey. On Saturday, March 18 the group will launch the helium-filled latex weather balloon from Memorial Glade on Cal’s campus at 10 a.m. and then, using software that tracks the balloon’s location, chase after it in their cars.
The balloon is expected to reach an altitude of 90,000-100,000 feet.
“People tend to get finicky about what the absolute definition of the edge of space is, but that’s the edge of space,” said the East Bay club’s Martin Rothfield, a retired communications professional.