Iowa State students get unique view of total solar eclipse

Iowa State students are experiencing today's solar eclipse in an out-of-this-world way.

Driving the news: Students in ISU's " Make to Innovate " program are launching a high-altitude balloon that will allow them to reach "near space" and study Earth's atmosphere during the eclipse, Matthew Nelson, the program's director, tells Axios.

State of play: Over the weekend, nine students traveled from Ames to Carbondale, Illinois, to get in the path of totality for the launch.

• Today, they'll release a hydrogen-filled balloon carrying cameras, a GPS and sensors that will track temperature, pressure and humidity during the eclipse.
• They also plan on live streaming the eclipse from the balloon's birds-eye perspective.

The intrigue: Reaching space is expensive. But the balloon lets students get close to it for a fraction of the cost.

• Most commercial jets cruise at 30,000-40,000 feet, while the balloon's height will double that, Nelson says.

What's next: Eventually, the balloon will pop and a parachute will bring the research equipment back down to Earth, which can take several hours.

• During a test run in March, the equipment ended up 61 miles southeast of Ames near Malcolm.