气球带相机升空 学生拍摄奋进号航天飞机发射                                  

    A camera-carrying balloon captured* unique views of NASA’s space shuttle Endeavour as it soared* into space for the final time May 16, snapping pictures from the stratosphere* as part of a student-led project.

    The helium-filled* balloon carrying the so-called “Senatobia-1” payload* was launched near Gainesville, Florida at 7:30 a.m. local time. Endeavour blasted off* from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida at 8:56 a.m. local time. The shuttle is en route to the International Space Station on its 25th and final mission before it is retired.

    “Senatobia-1 has multiple* video and still cameras to catch Endeavour’s climb into space,” Quest for Stars officials said via Twitter.

    The balloon’s earlier launch time allowed the payload to be in position at an altitude* of around 30,500 meters to witness Endeavour’s supersonic streak* beyond the stratosphere. The balloon was built and flown by students as part of a project conducted by Quest for Stars, a non-profit educational organization, in coordination with the Challenger Center for Space Science Education and the Coalition* for Space Exploration.

    The aim of the balloon flight was to bring together students and citizens from all backgrounds who would not normally have contact with a mission to the edge of space, Quest for Stars officials said in a statement.

    Endeavour’s flight was the second shuttle launch a Quest for Stars balloon has observed. The group’s “Robonaut-1” balloon snapped pictures of the space shuttle Discovery’s launch from the edge of space in February.

    The payload of this balloon, Senatobia-1, takes its name from the city of Senatobia, Mississipi, which has long shared a special connection with Endeavour. Senatobia was one of two communities that first suggested the name “Endeavour” as a possible name for NASA’s youngest space shuttle, which was built as a replacement after Challenger was lost in 1986.

    In addition to carrying a still and video camera, a GPS and radio tracking devices, the balloon also carried signatures* gathered from a large number of students in Senatobia wishing a quick recovery for wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, wife of Endeavour’s STS-134 commander Mark Kelly. Giffords suffered a gunshot wound to the head in a failed assassination attempt at a January meeting in Tucson.

    The balloon burst at high altitude and drifted back down to Earth as planned, its mission complete. Recovery personnel found it and reported that everything had worked well.(SD-Agencies)