Taylor links balloon launch to others in Midwest

By Barry William Walsh
Published November 4, 2007
Chronicle Tribune

UPLAND – History was made at Taylor University on Saturday morning following the first-ever High Altitude Launch Opportunity (HALO) event.

Jason Krueger, a 2006 Taylor University alumnus and president of StratoStar Systems LLC, said the event marked the first time a coordinated balloon satellite launch occurred between a large number of colleges and universities. A total of eight balloons were launched at eight sites across the Midwest to create the first balloon high-speed mesh network.

“It went really well,” Krueger said of Saturday’s launch. “Basically, what we were looking to have happen was get up to about 40,000 to 50,000 ft. At that level, a wireless mesh network would be created between the balloons.”

The data, from sites as far way as Minneapolis and Davenport, Iowa, was collected in a control room in the university’s science center, and Krueger noted that the day’s successful launch might result in offers from military departments including the Department of Defense. He also said if more technology had been included on the balloons the network’s scope could have been even larger.

“With this network if we were to have cell phones or internet technology on-board we could have covered Minnesota all the way to Ohio,” Krueger said.

One of the main focuses of the HALO Project was to get students involved and Krueger noted that even late Saturday afternoon there was talk of doing a second project. “Basically, there’s already been talk of staring next week, planning HALO 2,” he said. “We’d have more schools, a bigger area and figure out how we can make the connections better and do better science.”

Taylor University junior Jon Carmicheal said that event has given him the opportunity to work in large groups in a project. “It’s given me the opportunity to interact with a lot of universities in a project that involves more than just a group of individuals that I know,” the engineering physics major said. “This is researching new technologies and involves a lot of engineering, and kind of being on the front line of research has been great and that’s the kind of the thing I’d like to keep doing – working with new and practical technologies.”

Krueger said it would be about a year before the second HALO project will happen. “We’ll need that much time to make sure everybody’s on board and knows what is going on,” he said. “And, we’ll need to get some more funding.”