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Comment by benologist | Hacker News Reader

Check out the pics on the side - they're using a balloon, I don't know if that gets it all the way there but hobbyists do it - one of the more popular hn'ers does it and has blogged about it a but but I forget who.

Doesn't look like anyone's reached space yet but:

http://news.discovery.com/tech/hackers-launch-satellites-120...

Interesting discussion on some guys who reached 100,000 feet:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1750517

Edit: actually they're launching via rocket -

"Three NASA PhoneSats systems (two PhoneSat 1.0's and one PhoneSat 2.0) are scheduled to launch aboard the maiden flight of Orbital Sciences Corporation's Antares rocket from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility at Wallops Island, Va., later this year. "

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jgc does that: http://blog.jgc.org/2011/04/gaga-1-flight.html

Yes, and I am currently working on GAGA-2: http://blog.jgc.org/2012/01/gaga-2.html, http://blog.jgc.org/2012/01/gaga-2-distance-rtty-test.html, http://blog.jgc.org/2012/01/gaga-2-mounting-flight-computer.... The vague plan is that GAGA-2 will be all about lots of cameras pointing in all directions. GAGA-3 will be about precision landing probably using a guided parafoil.

None of this is about orbit. Orbit == high velocity and altitude. Although high-altitude balloons regularly go about 40km that's still in the stratosphere and nowhere near space and the velocity is nowhere near what's needed.

These phone-based cubesats are a good idea. There have been plenty of phone-based balloon flights and there's no reason not to use them in satellites if you have some way of recognizing failure because of cosmic rays.

Don't sell yourself and other high-altitude-ballooners short—40km is almost halfway to space and is an amazing achievement.

Remember, everyone, space isn't that far away—if they put in a highway, you could drive there in about an hour. It's easy to think about space being very far away from us and untouchable, but it's actually quite close and just out of our reach. Keep reaching, fellow humans.

> Don't sell yourself and other high-altitude-ballooners short—40km is almost halfway to space and is an amazing achievement.

He's just being accurate. 'Ballooon reaches spaaaace!!1' articles upset H-A-B-ers more than most.

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