Granite cadets earn honors with national High-Altitude Balloon Challenge
October 8, 2021 - GRANITE, Md -- Granite Cadet Squadron placed in two categories in the national Civil Air Patrol High-Altitude Balloon Challenge (HABC) as results were announced October 6, 2021. Nearly 140 squadrons around the nation participated in this months-long competition to send experiments to the edge of space to determine the effects of the journey.
Granite placed in the top three for their final documentary video, receiving an Honorable Mention and $250 award for clarity of every aspect of the challenge and great teamwork. Additionally, they were in the top three for the Innovative Science category for their tooth experiment, where they sent a baby tooth into space to determine if any changes to its hardiness would occur.
Overall, Granite cadets submitted nine experiments for this challenge, working as a team for four months. The experiments were sent to an altitude of nearly 100,000 feet before returning to earth. In addition to the experiments, they were required to create a mission patch, mission slides, and two documentary videos. They learned about Col. Joe Kittinger, the famous high-altitude balloon scientist who set the record for the longest skydive in 1960, jumping from a height of more than 102,000 feet. Kittinger was the ambassador for the challenge.
The challenge was sponsored by Civil Air Patrol’s Aerospace Education, StratoStar, and Col. Joe Kittinger. For more information about this event, visit https://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/programs/aerospace-education/cadets/cap-national-high-altitude-balloon-challenge
Granite Cadet Squadron meets at Maryland Wing Headquarters in Granite, Md., on Thursdays from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Prospective cadets and their families are welcome to stop by the squadron. Visit the squadron’s website https://granite.cap.gov for more information or email granite@mdwg.cap.gov for specific questions.
More than 1,300 members serve in Civil Air Patrol’s Maryland Wing. Last year, wing members flew 13 actual search and rescue missions. Overall, the Maryland Wing flew 32 missions for the State of Maryland, flying 2,245 hours in all mission categories, and was credited with four finds. Volunteers contributed services estimated at $4.6 million. For information, contact the Maryland Wing at mdwg.cap.gov or follow the wing on Facebook.
Civil Air Patrol, the longtime all-volunteer U.S. Air Force auxiliary, is the newest member of the Air Force’s Total Force. In this role, CAP operates a fleet of 560 aircraft, performs about 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and is credited by the AFRCC with saving an average of 82 lives annually. CAP’s 61,000 members also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state, and local agencies. In addition, CAP plays a leading role in aerospace/STEM education, and its members serve as mentors to over 25,000 young people participating in CAP’s Cadet Programs. Visit www.GoCivilAirPatrol.com or www.CAP.news for information.
Our final documentary video:
Our original documentary video which explains our nine experiments:
For More Information:
Lt. Col. Brenda A. Reed, CAP
Commander, Granite Cadet Squadron
granite@mdwg.cap.gov
