Talk about ballooning expectations. How about launching your own payloads into the exotic environment of near space?

 

High-altitude balloon flights are becoming cheaper and more widely available, expanding research opportunities for scientists and hobbyists, as well as young people just learning how science works.

In the last year or so, for example, schoolkids have lofted a number of balloons to the stratosphere, including three carrying a Lego figure, a Hello Kitty doll and bobblehead versions of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, respectively.