The beautiful image to the right was not taken by NASA. Nor was it taken by a rocket. Nor was it taken by a high-altitude weather balloon, which you might have guessed from the title to this post. No, the stunning image was taken by an amateur, using an inexpensive digital camera. He not only took images, he also took movies which you can see on the Gnews link. From the article:
Robert Harrison, 38, used a collection of cheap parts costing £500 to create a balloon-mounted camera that can travel up to 21.7 miles (35km) above the surface of the Earth. The result is a series of pictures taken from a height that only a rocket or weather balloon can reach. Mr Harrison, an IT director from Highburton, West Yorkshire, has launched 12 high-altitude balloons (HABs) since 2008
More images can be found at The Icarus Project and on his Flickr page. You can also watch a video of the story at ITN.
via Journey into space with a balloon and duct tape – Times Online.
