Appeal Tribune Wednesday, June 14, 2017 3B
Snafu teaches Evergreen
students important lesson
CHRISTENA BROOKS
SPECIAL TO THE APPEAL TRIBUNE
“Science is unpredictable,” fifth-
grade journalist Reese Johnston con-
cluded after last week’s experiment at
Evergreen School fell short of expecta-
tions.
Much of the experiment didn’t even
get off the ground. A high altitude bal-
loon – a miniature of the one scheduled
for launch during the solar eclipse in Au-
gust – flew into the air as expected, but
its payload – boxes filled with experi-
ments – stayed behind when a line
snapped during takeoff.
“It was very windy, and we think a
strong updraft took the balloon when it
was released, and the accelerating force
exceeded the line’s capacity,” said high
school science teacher Creighton
Helms. “Today was another lesson
learned for us, although I’m crestfallen
that it had to happen at the expense of
our kids’ hard work.”
The whole school had gathered near
the playground on June 7 to watch
Helms, high school student John Wayne
Michael Jr., and a team of Evergreen stu-
dents launch the balloon. Wearing gloves
to keep the oils from their hands off it,
the team steadied the balloon as it was in-
flated to 1,500 grams of helium. Two Sty-
rofoam boxes – not much larger than
shoeboxes – lay in the grass nearby, con-
nected to the balloon with 25-pound-test
fishing line and ready to follow it into the
sky. They held a camera, tracking device
and instruments for measuring temper-
ature, wind speed and pressure.
The Evergreen team, led by teacher
Theress Stadeli, had also packed a pair of
raw eggs wrapped in differing cushion-
ing materials (to see if they’d break) and
a bag of chips (to see if it would explode).
They decorated the box with a jaunty
American flag and eagle figurine, as well
as a note to anyone who might find it af-
ter it floated back to earth.
Right on schedule, the whole school
counted down from 10. At “0,” the huge
white balloon hovered for a moment and
then was swept up into the cloudy sky. Its
takeoff was so smooth and silent that it
took everyone a moment to realize the
payload wasn’t trailing it as planned.
“It was supposed to go up,” team
members kept saying in shock.
At first, several of them shouted at
fifth-grader Andrew Ueeck, who’d over-
seen the knot tying. But Helms inspected
the line and determined that no knots
failed; the line simply snapped between
the parachute and the first box.
Now, unencumbered by the weight of
the experiments, the balloon would fly
much higher than 2,500 feet as originally
expected, maybe to 6,000 or 8,000 feet,
Helms said. Without its tracking device,
it was as good as gone.
“I’m sad,” said fifth-grader Jerisha
Perez, who had helped tie on the payload
and make posters for the event.
As soon as the balloon was no longer
PHOTOS BY CHRISTENA BROOKS / SPECIAL TO THE APPEAL TRIBUNE
Evergreen School students launch a high altitude balloon June 7.
visible in the sky, Evergreen’s student
body pushed forward to ask questions.
At one corner of the crowd, kindergart-
ners clustered around the payload.
“What’s that?” asked teacher Mi-
chelle Buckley, pointing to a yellow in-
strument peeking out of the Styrofoam.
“An anemometer,” said fifth-grader
Melia Horner.
“A what?” the teacher asked, with a
prompting smile. “That is not a kinder-
garten word.”
“It’s a device that measures wind
speed,” Melia explained.
The team’s remaining members –
Brandon and Kaleb Schurter, Jon Jensen
and Brianna Zurbrugg – asked and an-
swered questions too.
Even in the face of disappointment,
learning had to go on. In fact, the snafu
was an important step toward the antici-
pated success of the final launch on Aug.
21 by the high school team, Helms said.
That larger balloon is expected to reach
nearly 100,000 feet and carry equipment
that will film the eclipse for NASA.
“The value in this experience – from
the high school perspective – is now we
know we’ve got to look at the line’s capac-
ity to withstand accelerating force and
how best to get the payload into the air
gently,” he said.
For Evergreen students, there’s al-
ready good news. Their payload will get
a second chance to fly on June 20. This
time they’ll use 50-pound-test fishing
line and a string system to “walk the bal-
loon” up into the air to minimize sudden
tugs from the wind, Helms said.
At that launch, the high school team
will also send up a tethered balloon to
check its satellite-camera connection
and ground station.
“I feel like everything happens for a
reason,” Stadeli said. “Maybe it’s more
important for my students to be a part of
this second launch where they can see
NASA’s experiments.”
Evergreen School students launch a high
altitude balloon June 7. A strong gust of wind
broke the line between the balloon and the
boxes of experiments. The team will try again
June 20.
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