Joseph Maydell, a flight controller for the International Space Station at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, founded High Altitude Science in 2011. This is his description of how it all began. “In 2005, while working on my degree in mechanical engineering at the University of South Florida, I had a part time job as a balloon artist to pay the bills. I  loved making animals, action figures, and other various creations out of balloons at restaurants for families with young children as they waited for their food. After coming across a weather balloon project on the internet, I was inspired to take my balloon skills to the next level.

Work on the project was slow in the years that followed as I trained to become a certified front room flight controller at NASA. Not long after earning my wings I was sitting at my console in the mission control room on a normal night shift. The crew were already asleep and very little was happening in the room. I remember taking the time to look up at the large front projector screens and being awestruck by the live footage of the earth rolling by below the International Space Station. The Earth’s beauty was breathtaking! Right then I knew I had to find a way to share that experience with as many people as I could.”

As a result, High Altitude Science was formed and has since developed weather balloon kits and hardware that can be safely and reliably launched to the edge of space, inspiring our future engineers and scientists to imagine higher. Our Eagle Kit includes a versatile camera mount so that users can capture the incredible beauty of our planet. We have also developed a powerful commercial flight computer specifically for high altitude weather balloon flight. Our Eagle Flight Computer, a first of its kind, records data onto a micro SD card from an array of sensors and generates invaluable scientific data for post mission analysis. Exploration and science are our passions!