Testing ground photography with hot air balloons

The group of young scientists has successfully tested the first high-altitude air balloon photography in Vietnam.

Vu Trong Thu, head of FSpace Space Research Department, FPT University, said the activity is aimed at testing some electronic devices in the stratosphere environment (over 10km high and under 50km compared to ground), filming, photographing the earth from above and testing the ability to search and recover equipment.

Camera mounted balloon has a resolution of 640x480 pixels. Electronic components in the 20x20x20cm box, including a GPS (positioning system and altitude), communicate using FM waves, automatically notify the position once every 30 seconds, and a GPS transmitter via automatic telephone waves every two minutes. On the ground there is a control station located at FPT Cau Giay building, Hanoi.

After dropping into the sky from Hanoi, the research team's hot air balloon flew at a height of more than 26km and broke. Equipment exceeded 170km, fell to Dam Tron territory, Cong Hoa commune, Cam Pha, Quang Ninh province. Based on the coordinates of the falling device, the research team had to move nearly 300km to find the device falling on the swamp 20m from the sea.

Works on by FSpace in collaboration with Hanoi Astronomical Society (HAS). Attaching cameras to hot air balloons is a regular activity of many students and engineers in countries around the world. In Vietnam, this is the first time to carry out this test.