Henry Hallam, Robert Fryers, Carl Morland, Daniel Strange and Iain Waugh
'Earth from 32km'
This unenhanced photograph was taken at 105,000ft with a camera on board the unmanned "Nova 1" mission to the stratosphere. Cambridge University Spaceflight is a student-run organisation composed mainly of Engineering undergraduates who are developing balloon and rocket technology to enable cheap experiments in the near-space environment. Acknowledgements: CU Spaceflight 2006.
The students set themselves a sky-high goal – to launch a rocket into space for under £1000. The first component of the system has been tested, producing this spectacular image of the curvature of the Earth from the upper atmosphere. The team used a high altitude helium balloon to launch their tiny payload, no bigger than a lunchbox. Packed with instrumentation, it flew to nearly four times the height of Everest before descending by parachute, taking photographs throughout the flight.
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