GLENVILLE, W.Va. (WVDN) – There will be two solar eclipses over the next 18 months, and this incredibly rare occurrence has prompted states all over the country to participate in the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project (NEBP).
West Virginia students will participate in the mission by sending high-altitude balloons 120,000 feet into the atmosphere during the eclipses. West Virginia’s mission is being led by West Virginia Space Grant Consortium (WVSGC) and Trinity Christian School (TCS). These stratospheric balloon systems’ primary mission is to provide real-time video of both solar eclipses to NASA TV. It will also include several scientific payloads, allowing team members to acquire and analyze data.
WVSGC and TCS have two opportunities to share with you to be part of these exciting missions and be involved in this awe-inspiring event.
- Calling all creative thinkers: every NASA mission needs a mission patch, and they are searching for the perfect one for the West Virginia National Eclipse Ballooning Project (WVNEBP). Students from all over the state can submit a hand-drawn or virtually made mission patch design for a chance to win cash prizes and have their patch used for a NASA mission.
- Also, residents of all ages a chance to send their names into the atmosphere with high-altitude balloons. Each submitted name will be electronically loaded into the flight computers and fly at 120,000 feet. To submit a name and receive a boarding pass, fill out the form at tinyurl.com/95r7x6ch
Teacher resources, k-12 lesson plans, background information and more about the challenges, contest rules and regulations can be found at grant.org/national-eclipse-ballooning-project/
For questions regarding the above opportunities, contact Natalie Fout at fout.nataliec@gsu.glenville.edu
Marcus Fisher of Trinity Christian School, and Candy Cordwell of the West Virginia Space Grant Consortium, are the mentors and lead the West Virginia NEBP mission. Other participants include the students at West Virginia University, Glenville State University and Trinity Christian School.
