22
Wednesday, May 10, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
WEATHER: Balloon
soared to 94,000 feet
over Central Oregon
Continued from page 1
Blackburn, who is working
under science teacher Rima
Givot, said, “The point is to
design experiments that are
exposed to atmosphere and
see what happens to them.
It’s good for students to have
some in-the-field experi-
ence learning about gas laws
and variables and how gases
change in the atmosphere.”
The weather balloon is
a six-foot-diameter balloon
made from latex. It takes
2,700 grams of helium to fill
the balloon. Attached to the
balloons were GPS tracking
devices and GoPro cameras
so they could see where the
balloon had flown and where
it landed. It took the first bal-
loon 30 minutes to reach its
peak altitude of approximately
94,000 feet, and took 45 min-
utes to land in the Crooked
River National Grasslands.
The second balloon took
approximately the same time
and it landed in Madras.
Students retrieved the bal-
loon and the payloads and
brought the results back to
school, and examined their
experiments. Each experiment
had a controlled variable that
would be unchanged through-
out the duration of the bal-
loon’s flight.
“It is a great experience to
get out and to truly be a scien-
tist in the field and not work-
ing out of a textbook,” said
chemistry student Holland
Hartman.
There were many com-
munity volunteers that came
out for the launch, includ-
ing Thomas Jeffery and Ron
Thorkildson, who did the
weather predictions. It was
a bluebird sunny day, so the
launch went perfectly. Rod
Moorehead helped with logis-
tics of the launch and the
experiments. Steven Peterzen
helped the students blow up
the balloons and made sure
the launch went smoothly.
Peterzen owns a company
called ISTAR that works in
stratosphere research. They
have been launching balloons
all over the world for research
since 1991. He has conducted
research in Antarctica, and
has spent 11 seasons in
Greenland. His company
works with various research-
ers from various companies
— including NASA — all
over the United States and the
world using balloons to con-
duct research about the ice
caps, examining the Earth’s
stratosphere and conducting
interstellar dust research.
His company takes care of
putting together the research-
ers’ payload and they launch
many different sized balloons
— depending on what they
are researching — in order to
see what happens to certain
things in the stratosphere.
He has worked with balloons
that can pick up 3.5 tons. He
and his family moved around
a lot for his work, but he is
now based in Central Oregon
and loves being close to the
mountains and giving back to
the schools.
“It is a fun thing to be
able to give back; I’ve
taken students to Norway
CHORALE: Two
performances
set for weekend
Continued from page 3
PHOTO BY BY CEILI CORNELIUS
Students prepare the payload for a weather balloon launch.
for experiments, and it is
fun to get students together
researching,” said Peterzen.
“It is rewarding for me to
see where they go and if they
might end up in the research-
ing field in the future.”
The weather balloon
launch is a way for students to
examine what happens in the
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Earth’s stratosphere and see
their own experiments being
launched almost 100,000 feet
into the atmosphere. And then
they are able to go into the
field and retrieve the payload.
It is an enjoyable and
engaging scientific event for
students, teachers, and com-
munity volunteers.
of Martha Graham’s ballet
“Appalachian Spring.”
“Prayer From Hansel and
Gretel” will come next, fol-
lowed by Gershwin’s “Porgy
and Bess.” “Porgy and
Bess” was first performed
in Boston on September 30,
1935, and featured an entire
cast of classically trained
African-American singers —
a daring artistic choice at the
time.
“Bridge Over Troubled
Water” will be the final
number.
In several of the numbers,
the audience will be encour-
aged to sing along.
Members of the cho-
rale have been rehearsing
in The Episcopal Church of
the Transfiguration Monday
nights for a couple of
months.
If you are inspired to join
in for the next performance,
visit www.sistershighdesert
chorale.com, watch for the
next rehearsal schedule, sign
up and come on down.
Sarah Conroy, Chiropractor
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