News Jefferson 5th Graders Launch and Track Weather Balloon on Epic Journey
Published on March 25, 2025On Wednesday, March 12, Jim Emmert, Mike Morgan, and other amateur radio operators from Pella launched a picoballoon for the Jefferson Intermediate 5th-grade science classes, engaging approximately 180 students in the project. The balloon was launched from the west side of the school building shortly after 9:00 AM.
They are flying a SkyTracker on a Scientific Balloon (SB-13X) with 7.5 grams of free lift, aiming for a buoyant altitude of 40,000 feet. The SkyTracker operates on solar panels, meaning it powers down as the sun sets and reactivates at sunrise. The following morning, on Thursday, March 13, the tracker successfully woke up over the Atlantic Ocean. The 5th graders are excited to monitor its journey, tracking its location, speed, and altitude in real-time as part of their learning experience.
The callsign for this flight will be wb0urw-23. You can follow along on this journey and track the balloon at: https://aprs.fi/#!z=11&call=
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