# 7th graders take pictures that show curve of earth **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 13, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7th-graders-take-pictures-that-show-curve-of-earth/546592 "2010-07-13T21:04:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7th-graders-take-pictures-that-show-curve-of-earth/546592/1 "2010-07-13T21:04:44Z")
[With a budget of $200, science students in McLean, Virginia figured out how to launch a digital camera 100,000 feet, taking pictures, and get it back safely](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2010/07/12/GA2010071203039.html?hpid=artslot). Some pictures the camera took are in the slide show (you may have to register at the Washington Post). ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7th-graders-take-pictures-that-show-curve-of-earth/546592/2 "2010-07-13T21:10:33Z")
Awesome! That’s a Great teacher for supporting such an endeavor! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7th-graders-take-pictures-that-show-curve-of-earth/546592/3 "2010-07-13T21:14:03Z")
That’s fantastic! ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7th-graders-take-pictures-that-show-curve-of-earth/546592/4 "2010-07-13T21:22:04Z")
Cool. Being a map geek, I had to track down the landing site. [Here](http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=chesapeake+bay&sll=39.408313,-75.801694&sspn=0.008969,0.016651&ie=UTF8&split=1&rq=1&ev=zi&t=h&radius=0.53&hq=chesapeake+bay&hnear=&ll=39.407301,-75.804398&spn=0.008969,0.016651&z=16) are the buildings shown in the penultimate photo. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7th-graders-take-pictures-that-show-curve-of-earth/546592/5 "2010-07-13T21:37:24Z")
Didn’t a guy in the UK do this a few months ago w/ the same method? ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7th-graders-take-pictures-that-show-curve-of-earth/546592/6 "2010-07-13T22:48:21Z")
I love that. I want to try it myself. ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7th-graders-take-pictures-that-show-curve-of-earth/546592/7 "2010-07-13T23:08:58Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Cool. Being a map geek, I had to track down the landing site. [Here](http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=chesapeake+bay&sll=39.408313,-75.801694&sspn=0.008969,0.016651&ie=UTF8&split=1&rq=1&ev=zi&t=h&radius=0.53&hq=chesapeake+bay&hnear=&ll=39.407301,-75.804398&spn=0.008969,0.016651&z=16) are the buildings shown in the penultimate photo. Did that balloon really fly [100 miles](http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=mclean,+va&daddr=39.407455,+-75.805238&geocode=FQYXUgIdeF1m-yk7eYqx7DW2iTHx6vqtXrpijg%3BFV9PWQIdyk17-w&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=39.407301,-75.804398&sspn=0.012418,0.027874&ie=UTF8&z=10)? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7th-graders-take-pictures-that-show-curve-of-earth/546592/8 "2010-07-13T23:16:35Z")
Yeah, that’s a total copy of what was done by MIT students and also a British dude. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7th-graders-take-pictures-that-show-curve-of-earth/546592/9 "2010-07-13T23:18:55Z")
Pfft. The challenge was to do this for under $200, and they spent $213. “F”'s for the lot of them! ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7th-graders-take-pictures-that-show-curve-of-earth/546592/10 "2010-07-13T23:27:48Z")
Interesting. But what about flying into controlled airspace? Call me paranoid, but I’d hate to hit the sucker on the way down in a commercial jet. Can someone fill me in on how you pull of a science experiment like that? ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7th-graders-take-pictures-that-show-curve-of-earth/546592/11 "2010-07-14T00:08:48Z")
We made hot air balloons in 7th grade. It didn’t happen my year, but our teacher said a class caused some issues for a nearby airbase for showing up as a UFO on radar. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7th-graders-take-pictures-that-show-curve-of-earth/546592/12 "2010-07-14T00:26:44Z")
> [@umop\_ap\_sdn](#): > > Did that balloon really fly [100 miles](http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=mclean,+va&daddr=39.407455,+-75.805238&geocode=FQYXUgIdeF1m-yk7eYqx7DW2iTHx6vqtXrpijg%3BFV9PWQIdyk17-w&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=39.407301,-75.804398&sspn=0.012418,0.027874&ie=UTF8&z=10)? :eek: Well, yes, but it flew from [Chambersburg, PA to that Walmart on the eastern shore](http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Chambersburg,+PA,+United+States&daddr=39.407455,+-75.805238&hl=en&geocode=FTdmYQIdUvxe-ymblp0rxXbJiTGnYLoPe3_zMA%3BFV9PWQIdyk17-w&mra=ls&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=13.231382,25.620117&ie=UTF8&z=8). Without knowing anything about it, my guess is they chose Chambersburg in an attempt to _get away from_ the Chesapeake Bay - as their contraption wasn’t designed to land in water. They got lucky. ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7th-graders-take-pictures-that-show-curve-of-earth/546592/13 "2010-07-14T17:42:29Z")
Makes me wonder then how they managed to find it. Unless they included a GPS or something. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7th-graders-take-pictures-that-show-curve-of-earth/546592/14 "2010-07-14T17:52:31Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > Interesting. But what about flying into controlled airspace? Call me paranoid, but I’d hate to hit the sucker on the way down in a commercial jet. Can someone fill me in on how you pull of a science experiment like that? I know that for large scale model rocketry (reaching altitudes of 10,000+ feet or something like that) you can – indeed must – get FAA clearance. I’ve seen software for sale that not only calculates the flight path of the rocket, but will print out the necessary govrnment forms. > [@umop\_ap\_sdn](#): > > Makes me wonder then how they managed to find it. Unless they included a GPS or something. On their site it says that the box did indeed contain a tracking device. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7th-graders-take-pictures-that-show-curve-of-earth/546592/15 "2010-07-14T18:06:03Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > On their site it says that the box did indeed contain a tracking device. Brilliant in its simplicity - it was a cell phone. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7th-graders-take-pictures-that-show-curve-of-earth/546592/16 "2010-07-14T18:15:32Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Brilliant in its simplicity - it was a cell phone. Cheap, too. I was just looking at some commercially available rocket tracking systems, and found one that would track up to 9 miles away. For a mere $189.