Schools
Key Peninsula Middle School Astonishes With Record-Setting, 40,000-Foot Egg Drop
The students launched the egg from a high-altitude balloon. From 40,000 feet, it fell at speeds of more than 100 miles per hour.
(The above video and following text were posted on YouTube by Richard Miller, an eighth-grade science teacher at Key Peninsula Middle School and founder of Blue Moon Science Education Foundation)
On May 31, 2013, the students of Key Peninsula Middle School launched a high-altitude balloon to study science and attempt to break the world record for the highest egg drop.
The raw egg survived the flight and landed intact after reaching speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour and documented altitudes of more than 40,000 feet!
The payload included a tracking device that relayed live information on location, altitude and air speed. Unfortunately the flight time well exceeded the battery life of the two on-board GoPro cameras... We have no video of the last half our our flight.
The FAA tracked our flight using the website we provided and alerted aircraft in the vicinity. Several commercial pilots relayed messages to us that they had observed our balloon as it exceeded altitudes of more than 40,000 feet. The balloon was designed to burst at 90,000 feet.
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