These lovely images are taken by an amateur enthusiast from UK named Robert Harrison. The whole experiment costed him $ 747 which on the other hand, costs millions of dollars to NASA to have such images of space.
Robert Harrison, 38, an IT director, has launched 12 high-altitude balloons (HABs) since 2008.
He used the following objects,
- A Helium balloon: which popped at the height of 35 km from the surface of Earth & let the camera fall down.
- A Prachute: which took the camera safely down.
- A Cannon digital camera: which was reprogrammed to wake up every five minutes and take eight photographs and a video before switching off for a rest.
- A GPS device: to track the camera when it lands on Earth.
- A loft insulation for wrapping the camera & gps device: which traps the heat given off by the devices and allows them to function in -60C (-76F) temperatures high in the Earth’s atmosphere.
- A duct tape: to tie the objects.
More images and details can be found at the project's official website.
Currently, Mr. Harrison is working on his third model, which has a rotating-lens camera and a rear fixed-lens camera, as well as pressure, temperature and humidity sensors.
