In 2021, we profiled Max Kendall, now a fifth grader, who started a club at the Medway Public Library to share his passion for weather balloons. To date, he has created and launched three weather balloons, the most recent in October; he is now creating a fourth with the Medway Balloon Society. 

For details about the flight, visit https://bit.ly/30MKYHt where you can hear Max’s full report on this experiment. 

“Overall, WB3 was a huge success,” Max tells his viewers on YouTube. 

According to his mother Jennifer, key features of WB3 included: 

• 103,000 ft. apogee / burst altitude

• New DragonTouch action cam for primary camera.

• “Love Letter to Earth” theme.

•3D printed, hand-painted Earth model.

• Sensor Readings: Humidity, Temperature, Pressure, Altitude, CO2

• Heating chamber for CO2 experiment

• LoRa electronic cut-down system to separate payload from cord when stuck in a tree.

• LoRa activated buzzer for helping to locate during recovery.

• 1000g balloon

• PiCamera facing upwards to capture footage of the balloon and parachute

• Yeast science experiment (successfully activated yeast after exposure to high altitude environment)

• Chia seeds experiment (ongoing)

• Scented putty experiment (lost some scent after high altitude exposure)

•Bubble wrap experiment (large bubbles popped, small bubbles stayed intact)

• Rubber band experiment (seemed undamaged/unaffected by cold/low-pressure)

• Improved flight prediction, fill procedure, and balloon led to accurate landing 5 min from home.