Athens from space

Athens High School students on April 26, 2014, captured video from nearly 20 miles above the Earth's surface as part of a project in their engineering class. This image is a screenshot from that video. (Courtesy of Michael May)

ATHENS, Alabama -- A group of Athens High School students last month soared higher than they'd ever anticipated when a weather balloon they launched from the school captured video nearly 20 miles into space.

The engineering students, under the leadership of teacher Michael May, set out to capture video of the curvature of the Earth and the darkness of space. Students Robert Autrey, Reggie Battles, Conlon Farmer and Benton Key did that on April 26 -- with breathtaking results.

"When we first watched the video, I was in awe that we were able to get a shot as spectacular as the one we got," Farmer said Thursday.

Autrey agreed.

"It was astonishing to witness the achievement that we accomplished as a team," Autrey said. "I was proud that all of the hard work and dedication that we put into this project actually paid off."

The students designed and built a payload containing three video cameras and a GPS transmitter to allow them to find the bundle once it dropped back down to Earth. The payload was built out of a minnow bucket fitted with plexiglass windows, May explains in a video of the project.

The video was edited and condensed into just over eight minutes, and uploaded to YouTube.

Scroll to the bottom of the story to see the video.

After a similar attempt by students two years ago failed when the electronics overheated, May's students this year used "Hot Hands" hand warmers to keep the gadgets working through temperature changes. Attaching the payload to a weather balloon for the ascent and a parachute for the descent, the teens launched their project from the school's football stadium.

The students learned some interesting things during the payload's journey:

It took 90 minutes for the payload to ascend, reaching close to 20 miles before the weather balloon burst.

They could see Athens, Decatur, Madison, Huntsville and Scottsboro in the video, as well as the Tennessee River and Guntersville Lake.

The payload experienced thermal winds, also known as the jet stream, as it passed through the Earth's atmosphere.

The decrease in pressure as the balloon rose caused it diameter to expand from 6 feet to 23 feet before it finally popped.

The temperature dropped to about -50 degrees Fahrenheit before the trip was over.

It took 30 minutes for the payload to drop back down to Earth via parachute.

The payload crash landed in Section, about 60 miles from the launch site. All of the electronics survived this time, May explains in the video.

The teens said they learned a lot about hard work, and teamwork, through the project.

"I learned how to create my own scientific experiments that will give data relevant to a project," Key said. "I also learned how to work with a team towards a common goal over an extended period."

"I've learned that precise planning and execution will complete such a big project," Battles said. "I had to take the role of the weather balloon by myself, which made me take a big responsibility and (become) a hardworking teammate with my classmates."

Battles said he was proud of his team for accomplishing the goal that the students two years ago could not.

"I hope the next group to do this project will do even better and make us proud," he said.