Portland university will use balloons to track August solar eclipse

PORTLAND – Portland State University in Oregon will launch four high-altitude balloons equipped with GPS tracking systems and 360-degree video cameras during the upcoming solar eclipse.

The university said Wednesday the balloons will allow anyone to watch a livestream online as the moon’s shadow darkens a large swath of Oregon on Aug. 21.

One balloon will be a part of a larger livestreaming project funded by NASA that involves 55 college and school teams throughout the U.S.

Three others are part of a PSU project.

The first balloon will reach 70,000 feet in the air, the second will reach 100,000 feet and the third will go to 130,000 feet.

For comparison, the school says, a typical airliner reaches a cruising altitude of 39,000 feet.