STRATOSTAR  BLOG

Weather Balloon Facts

The weather balloon might be seen as an old-school technology, but with today’s modern electronics, rocket scientists only dream of the low-cost capabilities that these balloons have that can provide images of the world from above. I personally have launched over 100 of these weather balloons and I’ve trained hundreds of educators across the country to help them implement balloon programs within their core curriculum.

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Ethics in STEM Education

When elementary school students debate the pros and cons of zoos in America they’re learning about ethics in STEM education and the ethical dilemmas associated with scientific endeavors. They’re learning to think critically and use evidence in support of their...

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Student Career Options: SpaceX

It is hard to overestimate the significance of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy test launch that occurred on February 6, 2018 and how it will affect the student career options and the industries our students will work in the future. Here’s how Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX,...

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Update on the Google Lunar XPRIZE

Update on the Google Lunar XPRIZE

“I think we should go first to the moon and then further on,” says Johann-Dietrich Worner, the Director General of the European Space Agency. The Google Lunar XPRIZE, a space race that we first reported on in March is still very much underway. The competition...

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How StratoStar Watched The Eclipse

Almost an entire month has passed since the eclipse happened, but the team at StratoStar is still on cloud nine. We loved sending two high altitude weather balloons to the edge of space during the event. Students from 25 different schools prepared experiments for the...

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How High Can Weather Balloons Go?

How cool would it be to watch a high-altitude weather balloon soar high up into the air with your classroom? The students would love designing their own experiment and watch as their work soared higher and higher. But, before you jump into this great project-based...

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Could Rockoons Be The New Way to Space?

No, we didn’t make up the word rockoons and no, it has nothing to do with raccoons. Rockoons are actually a hybrid rocket balloon and they could end up being the new way we travel to space. The Problem With Today’s Rockets Rockets have become much more reliable in the...

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The New Space Race

There’s a new space race and we all need to be paying attention to it. In recent years, we’ve seen private space exploration become a popular topic. With companies like SpaceX trying to successfully explore space as private citizens, it was only a matter of time...

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Explore Mars Like A NASA Scientists

Mars has been a hot topic in recent years. Everything from landing on the red planet to human habitation to alien life has been talked about. The scientists at NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory have been studying the planet since before 2012. One of the most exciting...

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Seadrones: Drones Are Taking To The Sea

Just as we’ve gotten used to drones flying overhead and the idea of autonomous, self-driving cars, another new and revolutionary technology is making a splash. Water drones, known as seadrones are already in the works and may soon be patrolling oceans and other bodies...

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NASA’s Jupiter Mission and What It Means

NASA recently launched a probe that is set to orbit around Jupiter for 20 months. The goal of the Juno spacecraft, the space probe that was launched for the Jupiter mission,  is to study the planet’s charged particle radiation belts and as much of the planet’s gasses...

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The STEAM Education Gap

For many years, people viewed it as the responsibility of the education system to cultivate an interest in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics. However, as the STEAM education movement has grown and evolved, organizations all over the globe have...

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Tracking A Weather Balloon

Tracking A Weather Balloon

Tracking a weather balloon is tough even with the technology we have available to us today… but StratoStar has been working over the last 10 years to make it easier and more engaging for students, parents and the entire community. Our goal was to help these groups...

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STEAM Education FAQ

You’ve probably been hearing about STEM for years, but what is this STEAM education business everyone is buzzing about? Are schools abandoning the STEM education model? What does STEAM have that STEM doesn’t… besides an extra letter? At StratoStar, we’ve been getting...

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StratoStar Saves Christmas

Twas the week before Christmas and at StratoStar We were searching for Santa, we looked near and far... But we had a strange feeling St. Nick might not show. When up in the sky there arose such a clatter That sound sounded bad... but what was the matter? We looked up...

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5 Insane Athletic Technologies

Back in the day, it seemed like science teachers had to give athletes the hard sell on why their subjects were so cool. It’s nice to see that those days are long gone. Every year, millions of dollars are spent on scientific and technological advances for athletics....

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Science and… Blue Jeans?

Jeans took the world by storm. The average American owns seven pairs of jeans, and Americans across the country will purchase a combined 450 million pairs of jeans this year. That's one popular pair of pants. You probably own several pairs yourself, but have you ever...

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Join Mission Control

Imagine yourself, sitting in front of three glowing screens. Mission control. You’ve just watched the biggest launch in your life so far, and it was even more exhilarating that you could have ever expected. As soon as it disappeared into the blue, you ran back to...

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Pluto: The Mysterious Dwarf Planet

Of course the Pluto fly-by has been one of the most talked-about news stories in a long time. Until this year, we have never seen photos of the dwarf planet that is 4.67 billion miles away. That’s nearly 30 times the distance from Earth to the sun. If you wanted to...

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Students Launch Weather Balloon

On May 7, 2015 students from the Mary Institute and Saint Louis County Day School launched their weather balloon in Raymond Illinois after preparing for months through a project based learning program with Stratostar. The crew launched the balloon from Orchard Farms...

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​Science Fiction Ideas That Came True

Thanks to many hardworking individuals in STEM fields, technology has come further than we could have ever imagined. For decades, movies and books alike have kept our imaginations alive with ideas. Here are some ideas from the world of science fiction that became...

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STEM in the Homeschool

Every family has their own reasons for choosing to homeschool their children. For a lot of families, they choose homeschooling so that their children can have a more personalized education. Kids, like Logan Laplante, have removed themselves from public school in order...

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The Future of 3D Printers In Outer Space

Back in May, we wrote a blog on how the future of 3D printers was going to impact the world. Our team was in awe at all the innovative ways people were using this advanced technology. We’ve been talking quite a bit about 3D printers, and we are excited to share a...

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Huskers Launch – Part 3

In our previous two blog posts, we’ve given a behind-the-scenes look at a launch that took place on September 15th, and carried into near space experiments designed by local grade school students, members of a local 4-H club, and students from the university. The...

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Nebraska Cornhuskers Launch

In this blog series we will be taking you back in time. In 2012 we had the opportunity to watch a graduate from StratoStar’s STEM Academy make history in a very cool way. In a huge collaboration with the Strategic Air and Space Museum, the University of...

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Advantages of STEM Careers

STEM fields offer students more than just a close look at how the world works. Even though changes in STEM education are altering the way students engage with and react to those fields of study, the process is slow. However, the more students learn practical, hands-on...

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Technology In The Classroom

Out with the passive and in with the active projects. What’s happening in the classroom is evolving into a technology based environment. Students are becoming more responsible, motivated, and expressive about their education. Not to mention it is vital that students...

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How To Become A STEM Teacher

Becoming a STEM teacher is not an easy process. It take dedication, research, and actually wanting to help your students grow through STEM education. The goal here is to evolve with your students. Students change the way they think, engage, and react almost every...

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