Mercer to participate in NASA research project
The project will give students a chance to collect and analyze data from the earth's stratosphere with the use of helium balloons.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — A team from Mercer’s School of Engineering is gearing up to participate in NASA’s Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project.
The project will give students a chance to collect and analyze data from the earth’s stratosphere, with the use of helium balloons, during an annular and total solar eclipse.
The balloon will be equipped with cameras, meteorological instruments and science experiments submitted by K-12 students in middle Georgia. Mercer has participated in the project since 2017 with their High-Altitude Research Platform, or HARP, balloon.
Professor of Engineering, Dr. Anthony Choi, says he hopes this year will renew student interest in science and engineering.
“Once we finished the 2017 eclipse, we had these 27 students excited, interested, and they said ‘what’s next?'” said Dr. Choi. “And so that drove us to really push the HARP project concept, which NASA really loved and they also funded as well.”
The team was also awarded a $25,000 grant from the Georgia Space Grant Consortium, which will go towards funding the mission.
Teachers who want to submit an experiment from their class can contact Dr. Choi or Dr. Kim.
