Normal Community High School AP computer science students on Monday used balloons to capture aerial photos and videos of the solar eclipse.
Students worked with technology mentors from State Farm over the course of the semester, creating and programming a payload attached to a balloon that captures photos and video, has weather sensors and tracks the trajectory of the balloon.
Amy Feeney is a teacher at Normal Community High School. While students have launched the balloons for the last few years, Feeney said the eclipse creates a unique experience.
“So, there should be not only an opportunity to get some potentially really cool video and photos, but also will the temperature change at that high altitude when the sun is blocked, even partially or fully depending on where this ends up. But when that happens, we’ll be able to look at the data and see what kind of drop in temperature there might be,” Feeney said.
The State Farm mentors work with students every other Friday, allowing students to also build connections with industry professionals.
“It’s so hands-on. Our students, when they’re coding in my class anyway, our output a lot of times is just what’s on the screen,” Feeney said. “This, they actually get to program something, it’s hands-on, their sensors are collecting data.”
Junior Akshay Pespunuri said the experience of wiring and coding the payloads and analyzing the data connects to what he wants to do in his future.
“They’re taking videos of the whole ascent process, we’ll get to see the curvature of the Earth, we’ll get to see the solar eclipse too, I think it’s going to be really cool,” Pespunuri said. “As for data, we’re going to get temperature data, pressure data, altitude and then some other stuff to really help us understand what’s going on, and UV as well.”
Feeney said the payload is predicted to land near Kankakee, Illinois, and students can expect to receive data and photos from the launch within a month.
Students throughout Unit 5 and District 87 stepped outside to view the eclipse Monday, protected by special glasses supplied by the districts.
The next eclipse like the one on Monday expected to occur in August 2045.
