By Jamie Miller
A select group of 13 engineering students at Bryant High School are getting prepared for an experience of a lifetime. They will be participating in an “Aether Project” which includes sending a payload into near-space to capture photos and video of black space, blue atmosphere, and the curvature of the earth.
“We hope to break 100,000 feet,” said John D. Williams, the school’s Pre-Engineer and Mathematics instructor. “On-board equipment will be collecting data about temperature, pressure, and humidity throughout the flight while radioing back real-time data such as position, altitude, and speed. We should be able to track the ‘Aether I’ capsule from lift-off to maximum altitude and ultimately landing.”
The students in this class have yet to experience a project of this magnitude in their educational careers.
“This is just another effort to make subject matter real to students here at Bryant Hornet Engineering,” Williams said.
The students have just completed their study of atmospheric flight and will begin learning about space flight very soon.
While working, the 13 students have been split into different groups to work on specific aspects of the project.
“There is a group of students designated to different project groups such as camera, capsule, balloon, publicity, near space experts, GPS, and weather,” said Lauren Wood, one of the students involved with the project. “We are all researching to come together and make the project successful and on deadline.”
The Bryant Hornet Engineering is a growing program that aims to produce great engineering and technology students from central Arkansas. Along with Wood, the students include Jonathan Scott, Josh Lawson, Ryan West, Zack Foltz, Alex Rice, Austin Middleton, Chance Levinson, Isaiah Stefan, Rex Hearn, Derek Barrientos, Chris Baldwin, Esteban Meza, Justin Layne, Roshni Rawat, Caroline Wright, and Sara Anderson.
“We are trying to develop a program unlike anything else in the state,” said Williams. “I’m hoping this remarkable project will draw still more attention to Bryant Hornet Engineering as a whole.”
