I sent a balloon to space and photographed Venus for under $200. Ask me anything | Hacker News Reader

I sent a balloon to space and photographed Venus for under $200. Ask me anything

anyasq.com

79 pointsgraffitishark26 comments

"BTW, our balloon just missed a JetBlue aircraft while on its way to near-space. (It was still safe as we notified nearby airports of our launch)."

Does that statement scare the bejesus out of anyone else?

No. Define "just missed". Flying across country (Florida to Washington), I saw another plane flying in the other direction. The plane looked and felt like it was right next to us, like .. hundreds of yards apart. Cross-country planes do this all the time, so far as I can gather.

[edit: fixed typo, added ending to sentence]

I thought the same thing. Wondered if it was within the 3 mi/1000 mi box.

Probably fair to say that planes are under pilot control whereas the balloon was at the mercy of the winds, right?

What you experienced is a "near miss" and it probably happened only because someone somewhere fucked up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_miss_(safety)

In my opinion, it's far more likely that he greatly underestimated the distances between the two planes. People who aren't used to these things tend to see a few miles of separation as a few hundred feet instead. Airliners are big.

This is an incredible possibility.

Meh. It was for a good, innocent cause, and he says he took the trouble to notify nearby airports.

I have much more of a problem with the legions of dumbasses out there shining laser pointers directly at passing aircraft.

I have much more of a problem with the legions of dumbasses out there shining laser pointers directly at passing aircraft.

I think part of the problem is some of those people think that pointing a laser at something is just like pointing their finger at something, only easier to see. It's like, "Look, an airplane!" Except, to the airplane, your "finger" is like a giant eye-piercing needle.

Calling them laser pointers and using them for presentations and stargazing probably helps conceal the fact that they're still lasers.

True. The problem is that 99% of laser pointer owners don't really understand what a laser is or does.

You can see the plane in the pictures on their website. It appears to be within a mile or two of the balloon. Notifying the airports is a good practice, and making the box radar-reflective is going out of their way to help make sure nothing bad happens.

Well, commercial airliners don't have radar that would necessarily pick it up.

I must admit, I'm a little gob-smacked that he just launched without a clearance from the FAA, but I don't have a map of the airways there so perhaps it was outside controlled airspace. Even so... whew.

The radar is not for the planes. The controllers on the ground look at the big picture and direct traffic for appropriate separation requirements. It's their radar that would pick up the craft.

Nobody actually gets "clearance" from the FAA. The administration sets the framework and guidelines for operation. This would fall under an unmanned aircraft of some sort, and would be subject to the airspace regulations it operated in. Believe it or not, hot air balloons actually have the right of way in any airspace since they are the most difficult to control.

The issue is that the FAA has a procedure for anyone who wants to launch a pilotless balloon (or rockets, etc) that involves getting pre-approval, then clearance on the day. It is to allow them time to issue the appropriate NOTAMs.

Actually you need to notify the FAA not "near by" airports.

30km up is not "to space". Not even "near space", if we take the Kármán line at 100km to be the generally agreed upon definition. The balloon is amazing and impressive but this headline is misleading.

Look at the pictures: http://www.thelimitisinfinity.com/ For laymen, it's a pretty good definition of getting into space. And it sure looks like space!

I really like their project. The pictures are amazing. Too bad we can't watch the video on their web site (http://www.thelimitisinfinity.com/) from the US (This video contains content from EMI, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds. Sorry about that.)

Reminds me of the father and son who got to 30km (and recovery!) with nothing but an iPhone tied to a weather balloon - the video is amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtXquYhY7wo

As others have said, sure as hell looks like space to me.

Wouldn't this be more appropriate on reddit's IAMA sub?

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. The site is a complete rip of a subreddit.

Hard to blame the operator for trying. AMA and /r/AskScience are both pretty strong candidates for spin-offs.

Nice idea and cool pictures. Too bad instead of HD they are only in micro format and embedded into a flash. Or did I just not find them on the site?

Definition of space is 100 km (Karman Line). You did not send a balloon to space.

Remind me of this one with the weather balloon and the iPhone:

http://www.vimeo.com/15091562

Maybe it's my monitor, but I can't really see anything inside the circle in the Venus photo. This is a cool project though.

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