On Sunday the 25th June 2023, FHS went stratospheric for the first time! A team of Year 12 students were out of bed by 03:30 (a remarkable feat in itself) to launch the payload they had spent months designing and building. The payload was lifted with a high-altitude helium balloon, measuring a few metres across, like those used by organisations such as the Met Office. Having received clearance from air traffic control at Swanick, we were ‘Go’ for launch. The balloon was expertly inflated with helium, buoyancy tested by the team and the 15m line between balloon, parachute and payload double checked before a ceremonial countdown and release.

Starting its journey at 05:45 BST from Vincent Square in central London, the balloon soared to a maximum height of 28583.7m and experienced temperatures as low as -48.6 degrees Celsius, before going ‘POP’ and parachuting back to Earth. Our tracking technology – and the expert map reading skills of Mr Bishop! – indicated that it had landed near Thaxted in Essex. The chase was already on! Having motored up the M11 based on our flight path predictions, we were expecting a speedy recovery. But on arrival at the map pin, we found ourselves in an idyllic wheat field, literally looking for a needle in a haystack! Finally, after a long search and trying hard to avoid making a ‘crop circle’, Ms Ballie-Whyte found the probe, almost completely intact.

The balloon transported cargo including cameras, data loggers, GPS trackers, Radio Frequency transmitters, Radiation dosimeters (courtesy of UKHAS) and experiments that will be used to help the pupils carry out tests to understand how different materials respond to the atmospheric conditions. Our Apeman Space Camera captured incredible footage of the balloon’s journey and the still shot shows our test-tube assembly and Fearless Girl mascot juxtaposed against the Earth’s curvature; a thin, blue, atmosphere and the blackness of space. We have also obtained a treasure trove of physics data to analyse… yippeee!

Finally, the technical and logistical challenges involved in such a launch are considerable and we are grateful to Westminster School for allowing us to launch from their site and for the expert assistance of computer science teacher Mr Andrew Mulholland. The students involved have experienced a real-world challenge and delivered a solution on time and on budget – quite an achievement, well done!

Dr Price, STEAM Champion