The UWSP Society of Physics Students in collaboration with physics students
from the Stevens Point Area High School launched a helium weather balloon in the
spring of 2000. Hanging from the balloon was a payload box containing a camera,
a radiation monitor, a temperature sensor, and a GPS transmitter. The balloon
reached an altitude of about 100,000 ft over Oshkosh, WI before the balloon
popped, as planned. As the balloon floated back down, the signal from the GPS
transmitter was lost. Assuming the worst, most people thought the balloon had
landed in large Lake Winnebago. However, a week after the launch, Shawn Enneper
from Chilton, WI called the physics department saying he had found the balloon
hanging from a tree. Everyone was happy to recover the parachute and payload.
Unfortunately the camera malfunctioned, so no pictures were taken from the
balloon. The SPS plans to launch the balloon again in the near future.
