Cuyahoga County Squadron Takes Top Honors And $5,000 Prize

For their experiment investigating the use of Faraday fabric to protect electronics from solar flares in the stratosphere and beyond, the cadets of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) Ohio Wing’s Cuyahoga County Squadron took first place in the CAP’s Fourth High-Altitude Balloon Challenge.

The squadron also won a $5,000 prize for their efforts.

Second place went to the Wisconsin Wing’s Stevens Point Composite Squadron, who interviewed NASA specialists to learn how to adapt plant growth processes in the confines of space habitats.

The two teams traded places on the podium for this year’s competition, as Stevens Point won last year and Cuyahoga County placed second.

The 2024 challenge saw more than 1,500 cadets and 250 adult members from 167 squadrons representing all eight regions and 49 wings of the CAP. Teams of cadets designed more than 400 experiments to launch into the stratosphere in 50-ml test tubes on three high-altitude weather balloons that rose to between 90,338 and 96,883 feet, then parachuted back to Earth for recovery.

The cadet teams each conducted extensive research and worked collaboratively on their project requirements. They also consulted with subject matter experts and universities to assist in designing the experiments.

The cadet teams were required to submit four components for the challenge: A mission patch, pre-launch video explaining their experiment, a report describing the results of their major experiment, and a post-launch video documenting their involvement in the activity.

U.S. Air Force Col. Joe Kittinger was a pioneering high-altitude balloon scientist and was the original ambassador for the challenger competition. After he passed in 2022, his wife Sherry has continued providing the Kittinger Cup and the $5,000 prize for first place.

The competition required cadets on the winning team to research, explore, innovate, and how to protect electronics against solar flares and electromagnetic interference during space exploration.

“We learned a great deal in the process, such as greater coding skills, soldering techniques, and video editing skills,” Cuyahoga County Team Captain John Anand said.

FMI:  www.cap.news/