The school in Dülmen, located in Westphalia between Dortmund and Munster, had launched the weather balloon on Friday, August 18, as part of a scientific experiment.
Equipped with a camera and recording equipment, the balloon was designed to collapse at 34km above the ground, with expectations of recovery not far from the school.
However, the balloon did not collapse as intended and was caught by high winds, ultimately collapsing at 36km while over Ipswich.
Its GPS tracker indicated it was in the River Orwell near the bridge on Saturday, prompting teachers Thomas Reher and Steffan Droste to set off for its recovery.
Upon arriving in the UK on Sunday morning, they discovered that the balloon had drifted and was now caught by the pier next to the Ipswich sewage works.
The teachers received updates about its location from their colleagues back in Germany.
On Sunday, they faced challenges accessing the balloon until they met Peter Dyson from Fox’s Marina, who assisted them in reaching the balloon’s location.
Mr. Droste said: “Peter was extremely receptive and helped us without hesitation.”
After a brief consultation, he took them to the pier in a freshly renovated fishing boat, where they were “overjoyed to sight and salvage the probe.”
They returned to Dülmen late that evening, where students eagerly awaited the cameras and data logger.
Mr. Droste added: “We are very proud and grateful that we received numerous data and beautiful images from the stratosphere through the salvage.”
[From the Ipswich Star of August 28, 2023]