Adam Cudworth

A 19-year-old student has joined a select band of private individuals who have taken pictures from the edge of space.

Adam Cudworth, from Ombersley, Worcestershire, used a balloon to carry a second-hand camera more than 20 miles (32km) above the Earth.

The whole project cost less than £200.

The University of Nottingham student said: "It took me about a year 

just to research the rules and regulations and to build up my 

knowledge of what components work at extreme temperatures and altitudes."

Before he could launch a balloon he had to obtain permission from 

the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

The CAA govern what you can and can't do and you have to apply 

for permission more than a month in advance.

They then issue a notice to pilots in the area

 to warn them that the 

balloon is going up, he said.

Richard Taylor, from the CAA, said it now got two or three requests a month for similar launches.

Improvements in camera technology allow people to do this kind of thing a lot more cheaply.

The balloon burst at a set altitude

He said the CAA was happy to grant permission in 

most cases.

Mr Cudworth is delighted with the quality of the pictures  

he got from a camera he bought for £30 on eBay.

It only uses about eight megapixels and the clarity of the 

photos is absolutely fantastic really.

The balloon was launched from near his house and was 

recovered after its flight from a field 40 miles (64km) 

away at Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.

The 10-metre diameter balloon carried the camera to a height of 110,210ft (33,592 metres) before bursting.

It initially falls extremely fast because there is no atmosphere, then, 

as it re-enters thicker atmosphere, a parachute opens and it slows 

down considerably, Mr Cudworth said.

The camera, radio and GPS tracking equipment had to be able to 

work in temperatures as low as minus -63C, he said.

Keeping track of the camera presented its own problems.

Initially Mr Cudworth thought about using a mobile phone, but 

discovered that these lost signal at altitudes above 2km (1.2 miles).

The use of GPS systems at high altitudes is also restricted by 

international laws, he discovered.

A lot of GPS modules don't work above 18km because of limits because they don't want them used in intercontinental missiles.

Mr Cudworth is now planning to develop a more sophisticated way 

of getting his camera back to Earth.

The project cost Mr Cudworth £200

I am working on an autonomous return glider 

- a small foam glider so that when the 

balloon bursts, instead of it just falling back 

to earth wherever, the glider will kick in and 

glide it back to a pre-determined location.

He is reading economics at university, with 

high altitude photography as "a hobby on the side".

Terry Moore, professor of satellite navigation at the University of 

Nottingham, said: I think it is quite incredible what Adam has 

accomplished on such a small budget, and on his own initiative.