Flying Apple Space Technologies

Flying Apple Space Technologies (often shortened to FAST) is a hobbyist and research group of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas dedicated to launching balloons to high altitudes for scientific research and development purposes. Flying Apple Space Technologies is currently run by Amanda Maxham, a gamma ray astrophysicist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The FAST launches have provided insight into high-atmosphere radiation levels, and the data gathered from the instruments on board FAST balloons is currently being analyzed by physicists. In addition, an algorithm created by the Flying Apple team is being developed and released for researchers to aid in speedy recovery and real-time location analysis of research balloons.
Launches
FAST-6 and FAST-7
The sixth and the seventh FAST launches were developed by students enrolled in the UNLV Summer Advanced Gifted Education Program. Andrew Campling, an engineering student at UNLV, served as assistant Launch Coordinator. The launches will be conducted at the same location in New Harmony, Utah on Saturday, July 27, 2012 at 9:00 AM PDT. The balloon is projected to reach altitudes as high as 100,000 feet. Payload items include a Geiger counter, an Arduino board dedicated to serving as an onboard landing prediction computer, multiple modified Canon point-and-shoot cameras, and multiple high-resolution video cameras. The balloons weigh in at 1600 grams. The payload on each balloon weighs approximately 12 pounds. Data from the FAST-6 and FAST-7 launches will be analyzed, compiled, and published in scientific publications.

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