Implementation of the 2013 Astro-Science Workshop, a Hands-on High Altitude Ballooning Program at the Adler Planetarium

For the past 7 years, high school students participating in the Astro-Science Workshop at the Adler Planetarium have been able to access the extreme environment of near space (approximately 30 km altitude) using high altitude balloons. Taking a hands-on approach the program has allowed students to design, build, and launch their own experiments with programming based at the Adler Planetarium. During flight, payloads are subjected to temperatures of around -65° C, atmospheric pressure of only 1% that at sea level, and cosmic radiation levels more than 60 times the surface background. In some ways, conditions at these altitudes are much like those at the surface of Mars, providing students with the opportunity to build and operate real-world analogs of interplanetary probes. We have found that this hands-on, student-driven research-based program is enhanced by implementing classroom and lab activities as well as by incorporating instruction and collaboration with research professionals currently active in the field of astronomy. We present the steps taken to implement the 2013 Astro-Science Workshop at the Adler Planetarium with a focus on daily instruction and operations planning and launch preparation.