MacGyver students send $170 camera into space
A group of US science students have upstaged NASA by sending a camera into near-space to take pictures of Earth using off-the-shelf items costing just $US150 ($170).
Displaying stunning ingenuity reminiscent of MacGyver, the MIT students filled a weather balloon with helium and strapped it to a styrofoam beer cooler containing a cheap Canon A470 camera that was programmed to take photos every five seconds.
The students - Oliver Yeh, Justin Lee and Eric Newton - placed hand warmers inside the beer cooler to ensure the camera and battery did not freeze in the -40-degree temperatures.
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci...0923-g1kn.html
