Building education through solar high-altitude balloons

Under a bright midmorning sun, middle schoolers stand in the chilly air at Albuquerque’s Balloon Fiesta Park, gathered around a balloon made of painter’s plastic and packing tape. Built with their own hands, the balloon has the potential to fly to the edge of space and become their first taste of real scientific discovery.

“Give me a countdown from 10,” calls out Dan Small, a Sandia researcher and the driving force behind the project.

“Ten, nine, eight…” the crowd chants, as students’ eyes turn to the sky.

After waiting more than an hour for the winds to settle, their faces light up as they realize the launch is finally a go.

“Three, two, one — liftoff!” Students and teachers applaud and celebrate as they watch the balloon, built in a school gym, soar into the sky. Within moments, the attached payload begins transmitting scientific data from the upper atmosphere.

“It’s cool to see it go into the sky because we’re the ones who built it,” said Humberto Mendoza, a seventh grader at Truman Middle School.

For Dan, the moment was just as rewarding.

“This is the reason I’m doing what I’m doing,” he said.

Bringing Science Heads to New Mexico

Dan, a distinguished member of the technical staff in Sandia’s Uncrewed Aircraft System Aviation Operations Unit, launched the New Mexico chapter of Science Heads — a national nonprofit dedicated to improving science literacy — in 2024. The organization’s ballooning program invites students to apply what they learn in the classroom to real-world experiments. Using simple materials, they build large solar-powered balloons equipped with sensors to collect scientific data from near-space altitudes.

Having spent the bulk of his career working on drones and robotics, Dan had a desire to work on high-altitude balloons himself, both as a personal passion and as a way to help young people discover the world of STEM.

“The reason I was attracted to this program was because it’s a very low-cost way to introduce students to the upper and lower troposphere,” Dan said. “You can build a balloon for about $50.”

As part of the activity, students build the balloon’s envelope using lightweight plastic sheeting and tape, then attach a hula hoop to the bottom to serve as the opening. On launch day, Sandia volunteers attach a payload, which includes atmospheric sensors, a GPS tracker and other instruments to document its journey and monitor conditions. Volunteers also assist with Federal Aviation Administration coordination and safety protocols.

Support comes from both Sandia employees and retirees, including Erika Roesler, who works in atmospheric sciences. “I love ballooning in any capacity,” Erika said. “I love the outreach because I hope to help the kids get as excited about ballooning as I am and about the atmosphere as well.”

Matt Williams, a Sandia mechanical engineer, joined the effort after meeting Dan at Desert Ridge Middle School where both were volunteering with the robotics team.

“I knew nothing about solar balloons before Dan’s presentation,” he said. “It has been a neat experience for me too. It’s outside my area, but my kids are into science and math, so to be part of this real-life science project like this has been great.”

From launch to landing

The journey doesn’t end with the launch.

Coated inside with charcoal powder to absorb heat from the sun, the balloons are designed to reach altitudes near 65,000 feet and stay aloft as long as they have sunlight. That means they can travel hundreds of miles in just a day.

“Last launch, I found myself in the Texas Panhandle past Amarillo,” Dan said. “That turned into 13 hours of driving to retrieve the balloon.”

The balloons launched on May 9. They landed south of Midland, Texas, and west of Roswell, New Mexico.

Once the payloads are recovered, students analyze the data collected along the flight. That often includes temperatures, pressure and carbon dioxide levels from the atmosphere where it traveled. This is an essential step in the learning process.

“I’m excited to see what data it sends back,” said Jacob Garcia, a sixth grader at Cleveland Middle School. “We also want to see how far it goes and how high it goes.”

For Erika, that’s also where the science becomes more real for the students. “I have four kids, and I have always told them about my balloon builds at work, launches and retrievals, but I don’t think they ever really got it,” she said. “When they get to build the balloon and see the difficulty of launching with difficult weather conditions and then getting to track it, the project becomes theirs. That’s when they really own it — where it becomes real for them.”

Bigger things ahead

The May launch marked the seventh for Science Heads in New Mexico. This year, the chapter received $8,000 from the National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia grant program to support materials and supplies.

Dan hopes to expand the program to more schools, including those outside the metro area. Based on excitement expressed by student and teachers, finding interest won’t be hard.

“Hands-on STEM experience is so critical for these kids,” said Vanessa Gonzales, a science teacher at Cleveland Middle School who helped sixth graders build two balloon envelopes this year. “We had 40 students building these together in the school gym and collaborating. It puts so many opportunities in place for these students and teachers like me because it’s so outside of our realm.”

For Dan, seeing students’ reactions during a successful launch remains the most rewarding part. “It’s such a connective, experiential process,” he said. “They get to see their effort in the build and learning process. They might wonder at first why we are launching balloons, but then we come out here and actually see the balloon rise into the sky. They track the balloon all day and remain involved in the process all the way. It’s really a great experience, and it’s the reason why I am doing what I am doing.”

Watch more photos and video of the May 9 launch.