Upland 14-year-old wins award for weather balloon
All of Brenden Geary's work may have paid off.
Brenden, 14 of Upland, on Wednesday received a Gold Medal for his work on a weather balloon during the RIMS Science and Engineering Fair.
The eighth-grader at Pioneer Junior High School will now move on to the California State Science Fair on May 3.
Along with the medal, Brenden was given a $750 check from PECG for outstanding engineering.
Brenden constructed a weather balloon with an attached payload he made from packaging material. Inside the payload was a GPS tracker, mini weather station and digital camera.
Brenden has been able to capture aerial photographs of Big Bear Lake, Catalina Island and outer space.
His latest launch was on Feb. 27 at Red Hill Park in Rancho Cucamonga.
During that launch, Brenden added a Ham Radio Repeater to the payload. With the radio, he was able to talk to a person in Goodyear, AZ.
The balloon took two hours to get above 80,000 feet and one hour to come down.
The flight landed 105 miles east in the desert north of Thousand Palms.
Brenden's next launch, his ninth, will
be May 29, which is the one year anniversary of his first launch.
There will be live video from the balloon as it climbs to 100,000 feet and back. The video can bee seen on his website http://brendengeary.squarespace.com/
Way to go Brenden, I am very proud of you!
Dad
You know you got lots of fans here at DB!
This kid is amazing! It's great to see kids with such passion and drive. Way to go, Brenden!
He is amazing, we are so very proud of him.
Brenden is an inspiration to me and to all the 5th and 6th graders at the Chino elementary school where I volunteer. Also I live in a senior community and everyone here looks forward to reading about Brenden's achievements and adventures.
Brenden is an inspiration to the 5th and 6th graders at the elementary school in Chino where I volunteer. Also, I live in a senior community where many people love to read about Brenden's achievements and adventures. Onward and upward Brenden you have lots of people rooting for your success.
Brenden,
Let me say that you are an amazing young man. I teach middle school in Lancaster California and I am starting an engineering class this fall. I am trying to do something like you did and can't wait to show my kids your stuff! Thanks for sparking the imagination in our kids!!