The Pella Amateur Radio Club’s Pella Exploring Near Space project has nearly spanned the globe. According to Jim Emmert with the group, a SkyTracker placed on a balloon has nearly come back to Iowa after traveling over the following locations since November 5th:

Atlantic Ocean
Morocco
Algeria
Tunisia
Libya
Mediterranean Sea
Israel
Syria
Jordan
Iraq
Iran
Afghanistan
Pakistan
India
China
Yellow Sea
South Korea
Japan
Pacific Ocean

The Pella Amateur Radio Club has been interacting with students at Jefferson Intermediate School and Pella Christian Grade School via virtual means this fall after many years of in-person interaction at local science classes, and the balloon launched for Pella Community School studentes will likely be the first to span the entire globe for the project, which could be confirmed as soon as this Wednesday. Emmert says Pella Exploring Near Space is made possible by grants from the Pella Community Foundation and Marion County Community Foundation.