Westwood Middle School checks out the weather

Westwood Middle School student Margaret Keeton holds the balloon that will be launched into high-altitude as part of a University of Tennessee Space Institute Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, or STEM, outreach event Jan. 20. Arnold Air Force Base STEM Center volunteers helped in the launch from the Manchester school and in the recovery of the balloon. Students received lectures from UTSI volunteers before the launch on what is needed to deploy high-altitude balloons and how the balloons gather information such as weather, atmospheric and climate data. The Westwood Science Club students assembled the payload and oversaw the launch while the entire seventh grade observed. Photographer John Coffelt, Manchester Times, documented the event. (UTSI photos)

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Westwood Middle School checks out the weather

A high-altitude weather balloon hovers 97,887 feet at altitude as part of a University of Tennessee Space Institute Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics outreach event Jan. 20. UTSI STEM staff and Arnold Air Force Base STEM Center volunteers helped seventh grade science club students from Westwood Middle School, Manchester, construct the high-altitude weather balloon. The balloon contained gear to collect weather, atmospheric and climate data; a bag of Fritos®; and a photograph of the Westwood Science Club. A UTSI representative wrote on the Institute Facebook page that the balloon burst after two hours in the atmosphere and landed in Blount County south of Maryville, Tennessee. The minimum temperature recorded was -69.2 degrees Fahrenheit. (UTSI photos)

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Westwood Middle School checks out the weather

Published Feb. 20, 2017
By Raquel March
AEDC/PA

ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENN. -- Westwood Middle School student Margaret Keeton holds the balloon that will be launched into high-altitude as part of a University of Tennessee Space Institute Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, or STEM, outreach event Jan. 20. Arnold Air Force Base STEM Center volunteers helped in the launch from the Manchester school and in the recovery of the balloon. Students received lectures from UTSI volunteers before the launch on what is needed to deploy high-altitude balloons and how the balloons gather information such as weather, atmospheric and climate data. The Westwood Science Club students assembled the payload and oversaw the launch while the entire seventh grade observed. Photographer John Coffelt, Manchester Times, documented the event. (UTSI photos)