West Virginia University selected to participate in Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project

Eclipse paths that will be monitored during the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project. The left line illustrates the path of the annual eclipse that will occur on October, 14, 2023. The red dot illustrates the time of peak obscuration (16:32:49 UTC). The right line illustrates the path of the total eclipse that will occur on April 8, 2024. The yellow dot illustrates the time of eclipse totality (19:00:15 UTC). (Photo provided by the Montana Space Grant Consortium at Montana State University)

Flying with balloons takes on a whole new meaning for a team comprised of university and high school students across the state of West Virginia who will participate in a ballooning project that will live stream video to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Story by Brittany Furbee, Communications Specialist

Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

The Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project has selected West Virginia University and Trinity Christian School in Morgantown to participate in a nationwide mission that will conduct atmospheric studies during solar eclipses in 2023 and 2024.  

Only 70 teams nationwide were selected for the project that is led by the Montana Space Grant Consortium at Montana State University. West Virgnia’s team will be comprised of high school students from Trinity Christian School and college students from WVU, Glenville State University and West Virginia State University.  

Through this unique partnership, students and faculty from the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources and other members of the WVU community will have the opportunity to serve as team leaders, such as systems engineers and project managers, while the high school students will serve as discipline engineers developing the systems. 

The team's mission will be to design, develop, deploy and operate high-altitude balloon systems during the next two solar eclipses on October 14, 2023, and April 8, 2024. All 70 teams will operate high altitude balloon systems at sites along the ecliptic path that will live stream video to NASA for further analysis.  

Through this project, students will learn a broad range of technical skills related to using tools, 
electronics, radio frequency communications, particle detectors, sensors, data acquisition, mechanical design, construction, computer applications and databases. 

“The goal is to build students’ confidence and self‐reliance so that they are inspired to see themselves as scientists or engineers,” said Candy Cordwell, assistant director of the NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium. “Moreover, we will strive to build a community of student scholars who can provide each other with peer support as they progress through the various stages of the balloon campaign and beyond as they advance in their academic careers.” 

---