BALLOON FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

K-12 Outreach Flights

As of 2022, our K-12 outreach flights make up the vast majority (88%) of our high-altitude balloon flights. We have visited K-12 schools and organizations all over Wyoming, launching more than four dozen balloons and reaching more than 2,500 students. Students are given the chance to build their own payloads to fly with the balloon into the near-space environment of the stratosphere. This type of authentic, hands-on STEM experience leaves a lasting impression on many young students. Teachers and educators can request to host a balloon launch with their own students at their own school.

To learn more, visit our K-12 Flights page.


College Research and Educational Flights

We have also participated in a handful of college-level research or educational projects and plan to continue these efforts into the near future. For example, from 2016–2017 we participated in the first National Eclipse Ballooning Project, leading a team of undergraduate students from Casper College. During the project, we conducted multiple flights with payloads carrying sophisticated electronics that were designed to live stream video footage directly to the internet. From 2019–2021, we ran the LIFT Project, an undergraduate science outreach program at UW. Although these flights were hosted by K-12 schools, the payloads and accompanying curriculum were developed by our undergraduate interns. We’ve also conducted one-off flights for several other college groups hoping to simply test their own payload devices.

To learn more, please visit our College Flights page.


Science Fair Project Flights

This is a new addition to our high-altitude balloon program, one that we’ve been thinking about for a while. As of 2022, we have yet to fly any balloons as part of a Wyoming State Science Fair project. However, we firmly believe there are occasionally projects that would greatly benefit from our high-altitude balloon resources. There’s no doubt in our minds that bright young students in Wyoming would take advantage of this opportunity. Beginning in fall of 2022, both junior- and senior-level science fair students will be able to request space on a flight for the purpose of collecting science fair data. Requests must be accompanied by a brief proposal that includes a description of their project and justification for flight space.

To learn more, please visit our Science Fair Flights page.