PongSats - Near-space Research for K-12 Schools

PongSat is a program of JP Aerospace

Almost any experiment that a student can fit in a ping-pong ball can fly

We'll fly it on a rocket or balloon, recover it and return it

It makes "near-space" research accessible to K-12 schools

Example: youngest students might fly a piece of a marshmallow
Does it expand in the near-vaccuum to fill the ping-pong ball?

Example: older students might fly seeds
Do they still germinate after exposure to cosmic rays?

High school students might even make some electronics experiments
One in May 2002 had a solar panel to charge a NiCd battery

AeroPAC has a similar program called "CanSat" (in soda cans) launched from rockets only