Seeing the world from outer space is something people have dreamed about for generations. I recently came across a news story about a man from the U.K. who actually turned the dream into reality.

Robert Harrison, who describes himself as a computer geek, was hoping to acquire some images from high above the Earth. He expected nothing more then shots similar to those you would capture from an airplane -was he ever in for a shocker.

After spending about US$800 on equipment, Harrison launched a weather balloon above the English countryside with a digital camera he purchased from eBay and a GPS tracking unit to locate the balloon when it fell back to the earth.

The camera was set to automatically snap images. When he recovered it, Harrison was surprised to find stunning images and videos of the curvature of the earth, the blue haze that is our atmosphere and the land masses and water features below. The quality of the images was something you’d expect to see from a NASA spacecraft.

For the full article: http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2515306

From the Peterborough Examiner- March 31, 2010