Edge of Space Sciences (EOSS) is a Denver, Colorado based non-profit organization that promotes science and education by exploring frontiers in amateur radio and high altitude balloons. Since its first flight in 1990, EOSS has grown its volunteer membership's numbers and skills over the course of more than 199 launches, ascents into the stratosphere and 100% payload recoveries. EOSS was incorporat
ed in the State of Colorado in 1991 and is recognized by both Colorado and the U.S. Our members utilize amateur radio and balloons to advance scientific study of the upper atmosphere. We regularly work with educators, offering valuable opportunities to enhance their students' studies of science, mathematics and technology through real, hands-on experience. EOSS has conducted as many as Sixteen balloon projects in a year, sending radio-equipped payloads deep into the stratosphere over eastern Colorado. Our typical apogee of 95,000 feet is above 99% of the Earth's atmospheric mass, where the sky is black and the highest clouds remain far below. VHF and UHF radio signals transmitted from this height are received as far as 400 miles away! Sometimes called the "Edge of Space", this largely unexplored territory offers a wealth of opportunities for scientific observation and has even served as a reasonable approximation to outer space for testing prototype spacecraft. Gas balloons are the most practical means to get there, since rockets can visit it only briefly, and it is unattainable by ground-based aircraft. Because of the low cost of balloon flight expendables and recovery of payloads, one local high school teacher characterized EOSS as the "Poor Man's Space Program".
