Wednesday, May 13, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
BALLOONS: Science
project is a Sisters
High School tradition
Continued from page 1
collaborating during this
time, but it felt like an impor-
tant thing to do for the
students.=
Givot delivered supplies
to students9 homes and com-
municated online in order to
pull off the experiments and
launch this year.
<We did a lot of group
chats and zoom meetings in
order to collaborate with our
classmates and team mem-
bers,= said student Tatum
Sitz.
Piper Adelt, sophomore
at Sisters High School was
in charge of running the
cameras.
<I am not really a tech per-
son, but I learned a lot and
enjoyed this experience,= she
said.
Peterzen, who has lived
in Sisters for more than
a decade, is the founder
a n d o w n e r o f I S TA R
Stratospheric Ballooning and
has been working with the
high school for the past six
years in creating a student
launch program.
<I contacted Rima about
doing a student launch pro-
gram here,= he said. <We got
funding for it as a small pro-
gram and it9s a great way for
students to get experience and
connections in this field and
spark passion and drop seeds
for potential future careers.=
This year, ISTAR obtained
$16,000 in funding from the
Battelle Memorial Institute
for the program. It took about
nine months of working with
Battelle to obtain the funds,
but it was worth the effort
to secure the money to keep
the program alive for future
operations.
Battelle Memorial
Institute is a private nonprofit
applied science and technol-
ogy development company
and Peterzen has
been working
with them for a
while to obtain
the grant for the
program.
<The grant
will be used for
furthering earth
science and
space programs,
but it was pri-
marily obtained
for the weather
balloon launch
program at
SHS,= he said.
Peterzen will
be continuing
his work with
his company,
ISTAR, and for
Battelle eventu-
ally to test anten-
nas for NASA
systems and do
further research
in the Arctic
Circle.
ISTAR has
also teamed with
Battelle to bid on
the NASA strato-
spheric balloon
program which
involves manag-
PHOTO BY CEILI CORNELIUS
ing the program
Up,
up
and
away!
Students
launched
two balloons
and developing
loaded
with
experiments
last
Thursday.
new research
opportunities.
landing,= said Rima Givot.
On Thursday afternoon,
After retrieving the bal-
the first balloon was retrieved loons, students gathered their
in Post by rancher Jim Wood own experiments to collect
4 who happens to be a data on what happened to
Sisters resident and father of them during flight.
Sisters High School student
The camera teams will
Lachlan Wood, who previ- also begin piecing together
ously had participated in the the footage retrieved from
balloon launch program. The flight.
initial data said that one of
The weather balloon
the balloons reached at least launch program will continue
88,000 feet in the atmosphere. at Sisters High School, and
The second balloon was according to Peterzen, with
spotted by a fisherman and more grants and funding, can
his wife at the Prineville be made an available program
Reservoir, landing in the in every school.
water.
<This was the first time the
balloons were both spotted
and we were contacted right
away instead of just tracking
them, they were actually seen
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<The warm weather and
loosening of stay home
orders have brought people
from their homes out into
the woods and lakes in high
numbers to recreate this
weekend,= stated Jefferson
County Undersheriff Marc
Heckathorn. <This is a very
sad reminder of the need for
all boaters to wear or have
immediately available a per-
son flotation device when on
the water.=
Oregon State Police,
Forest Service Law
Enforcement, and the
Sisters/Camp Sherman Fire
Department assisted at the
scene.
Law enforcement and
the Oregon Marine Board
report that paddling fatalities
are on the rise in Oregon.
Sunday9s incident is the sixth
on Oregon9s waterways this
spring. According to law
enforcement authorities, all
have two things in common:
not wearing life jackets, and
cold water.
The Oregon State Marine
Board is urging boaters
headed to the water as spring
weather gets nice 4 espe-
cially people in canoes, kay-
aks, and on stand-up paddle-
boards 4 to dress for the
water temperature, not the
Year-round
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Continued from page 1
air temperature. The water is
cold.
<We are concerned,=
said Marine Board Boating
Safety Program Manager
Randy Henry. <People are
anxious to get out and have
fun, but water is serious busi-
ness. If you go boating, wear
your life jacket, buckle it up,
and make sure it9s a snug fit.
Always dress appropriately,
and if you9re paddling, dress
for the water. A dunking this
time of year can be deadly.=
This season, many people
new to paddling or people
who haven9t paddled in a
while are strongly encour-
aged to take a free, online
paddling course to learn
about self-rescue, how
to re-board your paddle-
craft, important equipment/
requirements and other
safety skills to develop.
Start out on calm, flat water,
and slowly progress to
other waterbodies as skills
develop. There are also pad-
dling clubs in many com-
munities as well as online
forums with local safety
information.
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Mon-Fri: 7 am-5:30 pm
Sat: 8 am-5 pm
SistersRental.com
The Sisters Kiwanis
Food Bank is open and
we welcome your visit!
If you qualify by meeting the federal
standard of poverty income level, we provide
a wide variety of food choices tailored to your
family’s tastes and geared for healthy meals.
The Sisters Kiwanis Food Bank is open
every other week and you are encouraged to
anticipate your food needs for two weeks at a
time between visits to the food bank.
The next pick up date
is Thursday, May 14,
9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
We are located at
328 W. Main Ave. in Sisters