Vič Goes to Near Space

In the school year 2012-2013 about 50 students (Fig. 1), managed by mentors (teachers from the middle school Gimnazija Vic in Ljubljana, Slovenia) created an atmospheric probe and launched it into an altitude of more than 30 km above Earth’s surface. The aim of this “space expedition” was to take pictures of Earth and to measure how air pressure, the temperature, CO2 and O2 concentrations, the level of UVA and UVB radiation, and the amount of light change with altitude. There was also a yeast sample placed inside and outside of the probe. Here we report on some of the successes and failures of this endeavor.