HUNTSVILLE, Alabama Astronomers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama are preparing to launch their third attempt to capture meteor particles and show it all on video. They intend to release their specially equipped, low-cost balloon at about 1:30 a.m. ET on November 18, to catch the peak of the Leonid meteor shower.
Some astronomers are predicting a meteor storm as the Earth's passes through the debris trail scattered across its orbital path from the comet Tempel-Tuttle at the end of a 33-year cycle. In 1966, up to 100,000 meteors per hour were reported. A typical shower is usually about 10 to 20 meteors per hour.
If all goes well, the balloon should rise to about 100,000 feet in about three hours and descend for 21 minutes until touchdown. As science projects go, its about as economical as it gets. Ed Myszka, a Ham radio hobbyist, built the 20-pound payload -- an aluminum box containing a video camera and capture material that works much like flypaper to trap particles no bigger than a grain of sand. NASA contributed the balloon and some other equipment.
The video signal and information about the balloons location, altitude and air temperature are downlinked to Marshall and posted live to the World Wide Web. Local computer and amateur radio enthusiasts will help track and recover the balloon and its payload. The total bill runs to about $4,000.
"Its science on a dime," Myszka said. "We tried it just for fun."
The scientists also launched balloons during last Augusts Perseids shower and last years Leonids shower.
An estimated 80,000 people tuned in last year to watch video from the Leonids Live! balloon and to hear live commentary provided by NASA astrophysicist John Horack, said Linda Porter, a computer engineer at Marshall. This year, organizers are hoping for even more people to watch on the web.
"We caught the fireballs last year," Porter said, referring to eight fireballs imaged by the balloons video camera. "Itd be great if we caught a storm this year."
Whether the Leonids storm, shower or fizzle out, Myszka and crew will have to recover the payload once it lands. Last year, the balloon landed in a briar patch in bear country near Chatsworth, Georgia.
Current weather predictions call for the balloon to land in Tennessee about 127 miles east-northeast of Marshall, but that could change depending on upper winds at the time.
A global positioning system aboard helps pinpoint the location. There are also placards affixed to the payload asking anyone who finds it to call and let the crew know.
So far the payload has always turned up -- but usually missing one small item.
"People take the NASA logos as souvenirs," Porter said.
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