Solar Eclipse of the Heart

To study the ozone during an eclipse, a pair of Honors College students had to collect a balloon launched nearly 100 miles away that landed in somebody's backyard near Fredericksburg, Texas. They would have to retrieve it — during hunting season.

Using a GPS tracking device, Kiana Ahmari, chemical engineering '27, determined the property was listed on Airbnb, contacted the company, and then the owner. Supported by the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project, Ahmari and Nursultan "Nurs" Zhanabay, also chemical engineering '27, were part of a group of six Drexel students who traveled to Rocksprings, Texas, in October 2023 for a high-altitude balloon launch during the solar eclipse.

This adventure was months in the making. Kiana, from Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, and Nurs from Kazakhstan, applied in their first year to join the College of Engineering's Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) and began working with Richard Cairncross, PhD, project lead and professor of chemical and biological engineering. As part of VIP, they attended weekly meetings and followed lesson plans in their winter and spring terms. They were also accepted into STAR, choosing to continue their research full-time with Cairncross during the summer.

The Drexel group set up at Camp Eagle, an adventure camp in the eclipse path. The rare astronomical event allowed them to measure stratospheric ozone concentrations in response to rapid changes in sunlight, which is crucial for understanding the health of the ozone layer.

After testing the equipment and several hours of preparation, the team launched their first balloon. However, the string connecting the payloads broke, causing the balloon to fly off without its instruments.

"I thought, 'Are we going to get something up before the eclipse happens?'" said Kiana. But after the failure, the team worked together to fill another balloon, cut back on payload stacks, and make flight predictions to ensure success.

Their second launch was successful, although without the cutdown mechanism to release the payload. The balloon flew until it burst. At the ground station, Kiana determined it burst at 30,000 meters and deployed Nurs and the recovery team. That's how Nurs ended up traipsing through a backyard in Fredericksburg looking for their equipment.

Both students brought prior research experience to the balloon project — Kiana worked at Penn Medicine with a medical imaging team, and Nurs studied heat engines. Now, they're pursuing different research paths: Kiana is focused on environmental microbiology, and Nurs is passionate about polymers and plastics. The pair hopes to turn their ballooning research into a Drexel club.