> Didn't some canadian kids send a digital camera into space, using a weather balloon? No, they didn't. Weather balloons need an atmosphere to float in, and wo

> Didn't some canadian kids send a digital camera into space, using a weather balloon? No, they didn't. Weather balloons need an atmosphere to float in, and would've still experienced almost as much gravity as the ground (the force of gravity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between two objects). Such balloons are typically launched between altitudes of 18 and 37km. In 2002 a balloon did reach 53km but this isn't sufficient to be considered space and is still in the stratosphere. The start of space is defined by the Kármán line[1] at 100km (62 miles) above sea level, although this is still technically within the thermosphere. The International Space Station orbits at 370km, in space but also in the thermosphere. [1] - http://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=5086557&whence=item%3fid%3d5086380 http://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=5086557&whence=item...