Some students of mine are aiming to take a camera up to photograph the earth’s curvature (helium balloon, expands as rises, pops, falls to earth). They have planned to use an umbrella as a ‘chute’, but it’s not light and I think will just collapse.
Any ideas for where to get a small, lightish, cheap ‘chute?

Have a look on some of the robotics websites.
Best bet might be to contact a manufacturer and tell them what you are up to – might find one ends up on it’s way F0C 😉

http://www.modelrockets.co.uk/shop/recovery-system/parachutes-c-50_56_57.html?osCsid=dd7ed76dd5c3d67c031cc38297667813

other model rocket shops are available

Cheers chaps

Oh man that’s reet made my day.. Here you have a group of bright students willing to make all that effort to send a camera up on a helium ballon, are interested enough to learn about the earth and her atmosphere, have sold it well enough to get their teacher on board … And they decide to use an umbrella as a recovery system – marvelous

How will you find the camera by the way, cheap GPS, old phone with locator?

Good luck post some photos

been done a few times using Raspberry Pi’s. Info on the website

How about one of those resistance training chutes?

Like this:

Speed Interval ‘Chute

They have planned to use an umbrella as a ‘chute’, but it’s not light and I think will just collapse.

🙄
Deary me, someone has to be having a laff, Shirley! A circle of heavyweight* plastic, like from a thick plastic bag, with fishing line glued and taped at regular intervals all the way round, about every 20 degrees, then just hung under the balloon and the camera in its box tied to the other end of the lines. As soon as the balloon bursts, the camera drops, parachute opens, sorted.
Ridiculously simple, easy for the students to construct as part of the project.
(An umbrella! Who’s the Mary Poppins fan then?)
*thicker than a bin bag or average Sainsbury’s bag.

Some students of mine are aiming to take a camera up to photograph the earth’s curvature (helium balloon, expands as rises, pops, falls to earth).

Looking forward to a “My helmet saved my life” post as some unfortunate mountain biker is taken out by a cambrella plummeting to earth at terminal velocity. 🙂