SCH Balloon Team Visits Renowned Cosmologist

You may remember SCH’s participation in NASA’s Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project (NEBP). This fall, the SCH ballooning team and their Drexel University counterparts were awarded just over $9,000 to continue the program through spring. Earlier this week the teams and several SCH balloon alumni embarked on a field trip to the University of Pennsylvania to meet with renowned cosmologist Dr. Mark Devlin who has been instrumental in groundbreaking projects like the Simons Observatory and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. His work with the Balloon-borne Large Aperture Telescope (BLAST) has pushed the boundaries of astronomical research. The SCH team spent the afternoon discussing their own projects with Dr. Devlin, gaining valuable insights into payload design and launch procedures. 

“While our balloons at SCH expand to 20-30 feet in diameter at peak altitude, the balloon the BLAST flew on, launched by NASA in Antarctica, is about the size of the Eagles stadium when fully inflated!” said Dr. Alissa Sperling, SCH physics teacher and adviser to the balloon team. "The ballooning process is filled with failure at every step, and that’s one of the most valuable experiences we can provide our kids—the ability to fail repeatedly and productively. Dr. Devlin’s experiences in BLAST modeled the ability to ask interesting questions, fail, and continue to design and refine, and eventually succeed.”

Faculty and students alike were wowed by the experience. Ariana Chan-van der Helm ’27 said she was grateful for the opportunity to learn from a preeminent high-altitude ballooning expert. 

“One of the most fascinating aspects of the experience was discovering their innovative stabilization technique,” she said, “which keeps the balloon steady during its ascent as well as the connection to pendulums that stabilization has.”

The SCH ballooning team left the meeting inspired and eager to apply the knowledge gained from Dr. Devlin to their ongoing project.