Nerdcam in space: talking the talk

The journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step, or in the case of our near-space mission, a single phone call. Find out who you need to speak to about your own near-space balloon expedition.

Two weeks ago, we told you we'd be building our own weather balloon with a camera attached so that we could photograph near space, with the intention of showing you how to do it too. Since then, we've spoken to a few people who have some interesting advice.

This week we heard from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and the Bureau of Meteorology.

CASA regulations state that weather balloons often don't need to be registered for use in Australian airspace due to their size and speed, but it did say that it needs to be notified of what you're doing, especially if you plan on sending an unmanned craft up above 400 feet in the air.

CASA also stated that you'll need to inform every aerodrome within 30 kilometres of your launch site of your intentions. An aerodrome is anything from a major international airport, right down to a tiny, rural airstrip.

It's also important that you avoid all commercial jet routes if sending something up thousands of feet in the air, so that you don't send your unmanned craft into the engine of a jetliner.

We also spoke to the Bureau of Meteorology who had some important warning information to impart.

Watch the video to hear about things exploding.