Who needs a Space Shuttle? Amazing pictures of Earth captured by one man, a balloon and his compact camera. By: Tom Allen
*He used GPS tracking technology similar to an in-car sat-nav to follow its progress - and an* *attached radio transmitter to find it when it parachutes back to earth.* *The photos taken by his device were so spectacular that Nasa has been in touch to see how * *he achieved it. * *Mr Harrison's budget of £500 might also offer inspiration to the new UK Space Agency, which * *launches on April 1. Based in Swindon, with only one astronaut and a budget one 50th the size * *of Nasa's, it will be looking for cut-price ways to reach for the sky.* [image: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/03/25/article-1260323-08D8F304000005DC-322_306x537_popup.jpg] *Ingenious: Robert Harrison with his creation, a camera enclosed in a polystyrene box. He then used GPS * *tracking technology similar to an in-car sat-nav to follow its progress* *Mr Harrison first got the idea to explore space after a failed attempt to take aerial pictures of his * *house using a remote control helicopter. * *After investigating high-altitude weather balloons on the internet, he launched his first mini * *spacecraft, named Icarus I, in October 2008. * *It took dramatic shots that spanned 1,000 miles of the Earth's surface, showing the curvature-of * *the earth. He has since sent a dozen capsules into space. * *'My family and friends thought I was a bit mad at first but they were suitably impressed with the * *results,' said the married father of three from Highburton, West Yorkshire. * *'The pictures speak for themselves. People think this is something that costs millions but it doesn't.' * *Before launch, the camera is attached to a tiny computer programmed to trigger a photo every * *five minutes. * *It is wrapped in loft insulation bought from a DIY store then placed in a polystyrene box. * *When the balloon reaches the 22-mile-high mark it pops because the air pressure is too weak to * *keep the helium inside. As the box falls a mini-parachute automatically opens. Mr Harrison has * *recovered it from up to 50 miles away.* [image: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/03/24/article-1260323-08DB2427000005DC-722_964x504.jpg] *The unearthly beauty of this image taken high above the planet would make Nasa proud. * *But it didn't need millions of pounds of technology to capture. * *Just a little British ingenuity that saw a standard digital camera taped to a helium balloon and floated into the sky.* [image: Robert Harrison captured images of the Earth like this one using a Canon Sure Shot camera fixed in a polystyrene box and attached to a helium balloon] *Stratospheric: Robert Harrison captured images of the Earth like this one using a Canon Sure Shot camera fixed in a polystyrene * *box and attached to a helium balloon* [image: balloon in space] *Achievement: Mr Harrison guided the balloon to a height of 22 miles above the Earth's surface and was able to recover the * *camera as it parachuted back down to earth using a sat-nav device* *-- ~~~Whatever mountains stands in your path, Whatever obstacle blocks your way, Whatever difficulty immobilized you, The prayer full of faith can remove it~~~. ~~~Thank you for being a part of my life, whether you were a reason, a season or a lifetime.~~~ ~~~fairlady.sha...@gmail.com~~~ ~~~fairlady.sha...@yahoo.com~~~ **fairlady.sha...@gmail.com*
