On 25 April 2015, JADE – an interuniversity aeronautical mission realised within the framework of Global Space Balloon Challenge – was launched into the stratosphere from an airfield in Włocławek.
The name "JADE" is derived from the names of the project's leading members (JADE stands for Jędrzej Agata Daniel Experiment) which comprises researchers from the Jagiellonian University (Dr Agata Kołodziejczyk), Wrocław University of Technology (Jędrzej Górski, Jędrzej Kowalewski, Daniel Karczmit) and the West Pomeranian University of Technology (Daniel Kaczmara). The launch was possible thanks to the Copernicus Project Foundation.
The Global Space Balloon Challenge is organised annually by the Stanford Space Initiative.
Among the contests partner institutions are companies and associations from the area of advanced space technologies, such as Space Generation Advisory, SEDS USA, High Altitude Science, and Arduino.
The contest is open to everyone, regardless of age and education. The awards are divided into several categories: maximum reached height, most beautiful picture, most innovative project etc.
On 21 July 2015, the winners of the contest were announced. JADE took first place in the Best Science Experiment category.
The project is concerned with stratosphere biomonitoring. It is worth mentioning that to date, nobody has attempted to conduct biomonitoring research at this altitude. The aim of the project is to find a species of bryophyte sensitive to ozone, but not to rapid changes in temperature, pressure and UV radiation intensity.
Three bryophyte species have been used in the JADE project. The samples were launched to the altitude of 28 kilometres and examined afterwards. The mission helped to understand the differences between various bryophyte species in regard to their resistance to the factors mentioned above.
The list of winners can be seen here.
