Totality draws young scientists to Goshen County

FORT LARAMIE – Goshen County was among a select group of research locations for the Great American Solar Eclipse. Four young scientists from Bishop, Calif., along with their support team, set up operations at a ranch near Fort Laramie where they sent three scientific experiments to the stratosphere.
Rubber balloons, eight feet in diameter were launched at 15-minute intervals during the eclipse. They carried cameras, tracking devises and radiation testing equipment, which will be recovered within the next two days.
The group of current and former students from Bishop High School are members of the Earth to Sky Calculus organization. It was formed in 2010 to provide hands-on learning opportunities in math and physics, under the guidance of Dr. Tony Phillips. Their focus has become radiation and its impact on pilots and air passengers.
The young adults intend to capture first-of-their-kind views of the eclipse from the edge of space. Teams launched from Oregon, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas and Missouri, in addition to Wyoming. Each team sent up at least one balloon, equipped with cameras and data collection devices which will photograph the eclipse and collect solar radiation data. They will not only photograph the eclipse from different points along the eclipse path, but also collect and compare cosmic radiation data along the path of totality.
According to Joey Harvey, a sophomore at University of California-Irvine, and leading the Wyoming team, Monday’s launches were successful, with the assistance of Jordan Herbst, recent graduate of
Bishop High.
“I’m happy and content,” he said a few minutes after the third balloon sailed into the air. “We sent up three balloons and they all made it to the

stratosphere.
Tracking equipment will lead them to the payloads when they return to Earth, probably just across the line in Nebraska. The units are labeled with return information.
At first glance, the payloads might not seem important. Students modifed regular lunch boxes, about 12x8x6 inches in size. They have a camera lens protruding from the front of the box, and carry tracking and in one case, the special radiation data unit.
Harvey, his mother, Dana Crom, and a member of a documentary team participated in a research project in Indonesia last year in preparation for
this one.
The Aug. 21 flight will bring back photos of the eclipse shadow from above, the first time this has been done.
The young adults are very serious about their efforts, and word is spreading. An exchange student at Bishop High returned to her home in Chile, where she started a program. Earth to Sky also has a maritime program where balloons are launched from
ship decks.
Harvey has made presentations to several organizations, including the National Science Foundation, a Space Weather Conference, and a seminar at the University of
New Hampshire.
“Their work is very important,” Crom explained during an earlier interview. “The amount of radiation that pilots, flight attendants, and air passengers are exposed to can impact their health.”
More information is available at earthtosky.net.