Note to Editors: For photos of the satellite balloon and images taken at the edge of the Earth, please contact Mary Wymer at mwymer@coe.eng.ua.edu.

The BAMASAT-1 balloon system will travel to the edge of space and deliver images of earth.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama’s senior mechanical engineering design class is launching a balloon system, BAMASAT-1, on Sunday, Dec. 5, at daybreak (about 5 a.m.) at the Shelby County Airport in Calera. The balloon system will travel to the edge of space and deliver images to earth.

The balloon system’s technical name is balloonsat, but UA’s team has named it BAMASAT-1. The balloonsat will travel to the edge of space at an altitude of approximately 100,000 feet. As the payload travels through space, the BAMASAT-1 will take video images of the Earth’s surface as it ascends and descends.

The balloonsat equipment will transmit the BAMASAT-1 coordinates using a GPS tracking system on the ground. As the balloon descends, the mechanical engineering students will track and retrieve it.

To reach 100,000 feet, a disposable weather balloon will be filled with helium and launched from the ground. After the balloonsat reaches a certain altitude, it will rupture due to the low pressure in the stratosphere. To prevent the balloonsat from crashing back to Earth, a parachute will deploy to reduce its rate of descent.

“The students have worked really hard to meet the many design demands of this project, including weight limitations and FAA regulations. This project is a tremendous first step in establishing a student space program at The University of Alabama,” said Dr. John Baker, associate professor of mechanical engineering and the BAMASAT-1 team faculty adviser.

The team will have a test launch on Friday, Dec. 3, at 1 p.m. at the Recreation Fields next to the Student Recreation Center and the Varsity Soccer Complex on UA’s campus.

The BAMASAT-1 is the senior design project for mechanical engineering students, who designed, built and tested the payload.

The BAMASAT-1 project was funded by the Alabama Space Grant Consortium and the Student Government Association at The University of Alabama.

The BAMASAT-1 team would like to thank the following individuals who helped them achieve their goal: Zack Magnusson and Mark Hose, both in Huntsville, Alan Thompson and other Tuscaloosa HAM radio operators, and Lynn Hamric in Tuscaloosa.

In 1837, The University of Alabama became the first university in the state to offer engineering classes and was one of the first five in the nation to do so. Today, the College of Engineering has about 1,800 students and more than 95 faculty. It has been fully accredited since accreditation standards were implemented in the 1930s.