Log - July-09-2003 Previous | Next Expedition Expedition | People Letting a balloon go off Puerto Rico Kevin of the University of Miami launched one of his many balloons today. The small package contains a thermometer, a humidity sensor, a pressure sensor, a battery, and a transmitter. It measures temperature and humidity from the sea surface where the balloon is launched over 10 miles up into the atmosphere where the balloon will eventually burst. Where we are right now (22 degrees North latitude and 65 degrees West longitude) it's pretty hot and muggy, so I wish I was up 8 miles up where the air is much cooler and drier, oh well, the subtropics will soon be past us. The ballon is pretty big and will get even bigger as it rises up into the atmosphere. Here Kevin checks the package just before launch on the aft deck. The little box below the balloon contains the sensors, a battery, and a radio transmitter. An antenna aboard the ship receives data readings that are then plotted later and kept for analysis.