Weather balloon retrieved after GPS signal lost

When the GPS feed attached to the weather balloon launched last week in front of Wilson Library cut out less than two hours after launch, its builders lost all hope of finding it again.

But despite their low expectations, the balloon landed safely on a farm in Ahoskie, N.C., yielding exciting camera footage of campus as the balloon took off and during its flight.

“We lost the GPS tracking at around 20,000 feet,” said sophomore Patrick Gray, founder and president of UNC’s chapter of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space. “We didn’t get a signal for 24 hours.”

After the signal disappeared, members of the group didn’t expect their plan of finding the balloon after it landed to work.

“We were pretty pessimistic about recovery,” said sophomore Dan Plattenberger, a member of the team that built the balloon.

So when Gray received a phone call at noon on Friday, he was shocked.

“I thought the people I built it with were prank calling me,” he said.

A farmer in Ahoskie found the balloon early Friday on his land. Gray had taped a card to the balloon that explained it wasn’t dangerous and listed his phone number for a $40 reward.

“It was pretty much extreme luck,” said Charlie Harris, a member of the group and a builder.

The five builders drove 150 miles east to retrieve the balloon Friday, he said.

“He didn’t even take the reward,” Gray said. “It was a great show of Southern hospitality.”

The balloon is still in good condition, and neither the GPS nor the camera were damaged by the 40,000-foot fall, he added.

“Everyone was really excited,” Gray said. “We pulled off the side of the highway to watch some of the footage.”

The video froze at around 30,000 feet, where the temperature drops to about negative 30 degrees Fahrenheit, Gray said. But the camera started working again closer to the ground.

“The most exciting part of it was the landing,” said Plattenberger. “We could see the parachute work perfectly.”

The group plans to launch another weather balloon at its first Carolina Space Symposium in March.

Gray said that speakers will include a NASA astronaut, multiple professors and the son of the second man to walk on the moon, Buzz Aldrin.

Next time, the group plans to use a satellite GPS instead of one that relies on cell phone service.

“Hopefully, we won’t lose it,” Plattenberger said.

The group might also change the amount of helium in the balloon to make it go higher, Harris said.

“It went 30 to 40,000 feet. We wanted it to go 80,000,” he said.

The group plans to post the footage from the flight on their chapter website and on YouTube.

“It was definitely a success, without a doubt,” Plattenberger said.

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