A high altitude weather balloon has gone missing in Cwmbran. Last Sunday a group of students from London launched the balloon from the Gloucestershire area.
A spokesperson for Imperial College Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, said: “Attached to it was a small box with a camera and radio that continuously transmitted its position to us. The flight went well, and we were able to track it as it was coming back down from the upper atmosphere. Unfortunately, we lost contact with it during the last stage of its descent, and have not been able to locate where it touched down.
“We know the approximate landing location to be 51°39’35.3″N 3°03’59.5″W (to within a couple kilometres), which is just west of Upper Cwmbran.”
“The payload is a small (1’ x 1’ x 1’) white polystyrene box, wrapped with black and brown tape. It also has black ropes and white strings attached, and a 1’ wide white parachute made of thin fabric.
“There is likely a black plaque attached on one side with contact details.
“It is large enough that it will be hard to miss, and it is quite tough to break. Because of the ropes and parachute, it may have gotten tangled in the branches of a tree.”
Reward
The students are offering a reward of £25 and a set of beautiful photos from near space to the person who finds it. They will also pay the postage costs to get the balloon back to London.
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