{"id":22450,"date":"2020-08-04T12:03:30","date_gmt":"2020-08-04T16:03:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=22450"},"modified":"2020-08-04T12:03:30","modified_gmt":"2020-08-04T16:03:30","slug":"pongsat-flight-program-to-fly-a-million-student-projects-to-edge-of-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=22450","title":{"rendered":"PongSat Flight Program to fly a million student projects to edge of space"},"content":{"rendered":"

An announcement from JP Aerospace<\/a>:<\/p>\n

PongSat Flight Program Aims to Fly<\/strong>
\n1 Million Student Experiments to the Edge of Space<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rancho Cordova, CA August 4, 2020<\/strong> – An organization in California is planning to fly a million ping pong balls to the edge of space. Over 18,000 have already flown.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A view of the PongSat flight on October 6th, 2019. Credits: PongSat Flight Program<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All the world\u2019s space programs combined have not flown as many student experiments as a little-known California aerospace company, JP Aerospace<\/a>. Now, after 18 years, the program called the PongSat Flight Program<\/a> has become its own nonprofit, setting its sights on flying a million student projects to the edge of space, all inside ping pong balls.<\/p>\n

What is a PongSat?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A PongSat is an experiment that fits inside of a ping pong ball. These ping pong ball “satellites” are carried to the edge of space by high altitude balloon. There the PongSats experience the space environment: cosmic rays, vacuum, extreme cold and even zero gravity on the descent.<\/p>\n

The PongSats stay with the balloon platform. After landing, they are returned to the students. Students get excited about science and engineering by actually doing it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have 7th graders with more mission experience than adult researchers in the field,\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

says John Powell, President of the PongSat Flight Program.<\/p>\n

PongSat is a completely free program, open to anyone.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A PongSat with electronics. Credits: PongSat Flight Program<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PongSats give students the chance to thrive during COVID. With science classrooms closed, PongSat is more important than ever. We have been able to conduct safe flights with a minimum team all masked up and social distancing. PongSats made at home can be the inspiration to keep science education alive and to even thrive.<\/p>\n

PongSats can be as simple or as complex as the student wants. Whether carrying a marshmallow to see if it puffs up in the vacuum of near space or an entire sophisticated satellite in miniature, PongSats create motivation, drive and passion in their creators. There are endless possibilities for experiments that can fit inside a ping pong ball. PongSat have carried seeds to see if exposure to cosmic rays affect their growth (it does!). They have also carried cameras, sensors, GPS\u2019s and even LEGO mini-figures.<\/p>\n

Over 80,000 students have participated in PongSat, flying over 18,000 unique experiments.<\/p>\n

For more background on PongSats, here\u2019s a link to \u201cThe PongSat Story<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

JP Aerospace, a volunteer-based space program, created the PongSat program in 2002. It started out with 14 students. Excitement about the program exploded. Every month tens of thousands of requests to fly are received. With new PongSat nonprofit organization we aim to fly them all.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
July 12, 2020 Away 130 mission was the first PongSat flight of the year. Credits: PongSat Flight Program<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PongSat as its own nonprofit entity has a stronger foundation. It means we can fly more PongSats , do outreach to more students and continue to hurl humanity toward space, one ping pong ball at a time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m convinced that the first person to walk on Mars is out there and they will already have flown a PongSat<\/em>\u201d,<\/p>\n

declares Powell.<\/p>\n

PongSat Flight Program (https:\/\/www.pongsat.org\/<\/a>) is a California 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The millionth PongSat may go far. Credits: PongSat Flight Program<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An announcement from JP Aerospace: PongSat Flight Program Aims to Fly 1 Million Student Experiments to the Edge of Space Rancho Cordova, CA August 4, 2020 – An organization in California is planning to fly a million ping pong balls to the edge of space. Over 18,000 have already flown. All the world\u2019s space programs … Continue reading PongSat Flight Program to fly a million student projects to edge of space<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[22,25,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-near-space","category-space-participation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-5Q6","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":839,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=839","url_meta":{"origin":22450,"position":0},"title":"Students of Space Hub Southeast fly PongSats","author":"TopSpacer","date":"February 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"JP Aerospace for many years has flown for free lots of PongSats with miniature payloads from students from all over the world. Now some high school students in Atlanta are expanding on JPA's work: Space Hub Southeast | Furthering the J.P. Aerospace PongSat program PongSat Program | Space Hub Southeast\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Education"","block_context":{"text":"Education","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1658,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=1658","url_meta":{"origin":22450,"position":1},"title":"JP Aerospace flies 2000 PongSats","author":"TopSpacer","date":"April 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"JP Aerospace had a productive week:\u00a0 Mission Success! - JP Aerospace Blog We flew just over 2000 PongSat student experiments, the most we\u2019ve ever flown at once. All five launches were in winds that were steady 20 with gusts to 46 mph.","rel":"","context":"In "Education"","block_context":{"text":"Education","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"10000th Pongsat - JP Aerospace","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jpaerospace.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Away82_uptop1-300x219.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7183,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=7183","url_meta":{"origin":22450,"position":2},"title":"JP Aerospace Kickstarter to fund 2000 student Pongsats for Sept. flight","author":"TopSpacer","date":"April 1, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"John Powell of JP Aerospace tells me they had a successful sale of \u00a0MiniCubes last month (see\u00a0JP Aerospace sale on flights of MiniCubes to NearSpace). Their latest outreach effort is a Kickstarter to fund the flight of 2000 Pongsats in September:\u00a02000 Student Projects to the Edge of Space by John\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DIY space"","block_context":{"text":"DIY space","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=35"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9143,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=9143","url_meta":{"origin":22450,"position":3},"title":"JP Aerospace sends 6 balloons and 1700 student PongSats to edge of space","author":"TopSpacer","date":"October 31, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"JP Aerospace\u00a0carried out more Near Space flights last weekend:\u00a0Mission Success, Six Flights to the Edge of Space\u00a0- Sunday Oct 26th we flew six high altitude balloon to the top of the stratosphere. We carried over 1700 PongSat student experiments, two MiniCubes, twelve HD cameras and a host of in house\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DIY space"","block_context":{"text":"DIY space","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=35"},"img":{"alt_text":"A103-108_launch2-1[1]","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/A103-108_launch2-11-300x287.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6688,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=6688","url_meta":{"origin":22450,"position":4},"title":"Video: SciTech Kids film featuring Pongsats shown in the White House","author":"TopSpacer","date":"February 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"A short film made by 8 year olds Gabrielle Nafie\u00a0and\u00a0Miles Pilchik\u00a0about the\u00a0SciTech Kids\u00a0program was shown in the\u00a0Student Film Festival at \u00a0The White House. The film included a segment about the Pongsat experiments their class sent to the \"edge of space\" with the help of\u00a0JP Aerospace: PongSats at Whte House Film\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Education"","block_context":{"text":"Education","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/Uz0vjuvAupQ\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16624,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=16624","url_meta":{"origin":22450,"position":5},"title":"JP Aerospace Ascender airship granted FAA Airworthiness Certificate","author":"TopSpacer","date":"August 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"For over 20 years, JP Aerospace\u00a0of northern California has carried out a wide variety of balloon and airship activities ranging from stratospheric advertisements to taking student\u00a0PongSat experiments\u00a0to the stratosphere The\u00a0Ascender airships aim to provide controlled flight to near space and perhaps even beyond. 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