| Types of Balloons | | | | Sounding and cold weather balloons are the ones that |
| There are many types of balloons available to choose | | | | you want to focus on -- expect to pay at least $40 |
| from. Among them we might find the following: | | | | for one and more if you want to go higher or carry |
| - Foil | | | | more load. |
| - Vinyl | | | | Sounding balloons will typically weigh in at 200 grams |
| - Plastic | | | | to a full kilogram and lift 250 grams of payload. They |
| - Neoprene Rubber | | | | will also go up to 20 - 30 km. |
| - Latex | | | | The cold weather balloons start weighing in at 1-3 |
| You'll want to avoid the first three and focus on the | | | | kilograms but can carry a good kilogram themselves. |
| last two, neoprene and latex. Foil, vinyl, and plastic | | | | They are going to cost about twice as much but this |
| are great for birthdays, sporting events and parties | | | | is what you want to be using eventually as they go |
| but they won't last a second in the upper | | | | the highest up to 40 kilometers! |
| atmosphere where the temperature is very cold and | | | | Obtaining Helium |
| pressure is 1/1,000 of that at sea level! | | | | I suggest you use helium over hydrogen not because |
| Weather Balloons | | | | I think hydrogen is dangerous but because helium is |
| Skipping past all of the other balloons let us focus on | | | | extremely simple to obtain and you won't need any |
| the weather balloon class. These include the following | | | | special permits if you decide to start transporting |
| types of balloons: | | | | several tanks of it around in your truck. It is what is |
| - ceiling | | | | called an inert gas, which means it is non-reactive |
| - pilot | | | | with something like air (which hydrogen is). A tank of |
| - sounding | | | | this stuff is going to cost you around $100 and will |
| - cold weather | | | | get you at least 2 launches of a medium-sized |
| You'll find many ceiling and pilot weather balloons on | | | | sounding balloon. If you want to you can purchase |
| ebay priced from $5 - $20. However, you do not | | | | your tank up front (which is going to cost the same |
| want to purchase these for several reasons. | | | | as the down payment you'd need to have to rent it |
| 1) They don't hold any payload as they are too small. | | | | anyways). I'd highly recommend doing this. You can |
| 2) They don't go as high as a sounding balloon or cold | | | | find your tanks at local party stores or welding |
| weather balloon would go. The best ones will stop at | | | | supply stores. |
| 20km. Near Space starts at 15km so you are cutting | | | | I hope you enjoy your first balloon launch and please |
| it thin. | | | | remember to let me know how it goes! |