THIS IS STAR

AKA: An Overambitious Class Project

STAR was designed, built, programmed, and tested in the Spring semester of 2018 by Catherine Nicoloff, a junior and Davis Scholar at Wellesley College.  

The instrument flew to 27,581 meters (90,489 feet) on May 14, 2018 as part of the SOAR high altitude balloon payload for ASTR 202, Hands-On Planetary Exploration, taught by Professor Wes Watters.

STAR functioned almost perfectly, gathering atmospheric radiation data all the way up and back down.  Unlike many Geiger counter kits that have been deployed on high altitude balloons, she was designed to operate at low temperatures and pressures.

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This website is an archive of her design files, design decisions, and other interesting trivia.  It is a work in progress.

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Use the menu at the top of the page to explore.