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Nerd Alert: Santa Barbara Nonprofits to Launch Balloon into Space

wxballoon.jpg
Photo by Marion Doss via Flickr.

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A trio of Santa Barbara organizations has teamed up to launch a balloon into near space this weekend, just for kicks.Santa Barbara's Natural History Museum, Amateur Radio Club and Hackerspace have partnered to launch a high-altitude weather balloon to 100,000 feet on Saturday.

The balloon will gather images and data collected on its journey to the stratosphere and beam it back via various channels.

The launch is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday near Stearn's Wharf in Santa Barbara, though organizers warn that wind conditions may warrant relocation. In the post-Space Shuttle era, this may be about as exciting a space launch as you'll get to see. Or not.

You can also track the balloon's reporting weekend via this link, view the telemetry as it's received here, and watch the live video stream here, according to the press release.

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