It's Gunnedah as you've never seen it before - from 34km up in the air.
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PhD candidates William Crowe, Michael Woods, Hiranya Jayakody, Karan Narula and Joshua Yen, and University of NSW Aerospace Engineering graduate Jeffrey Peng chose the Warrumbungles and Gunnedah to launch an unmanned space balloon, and the results are spectacular.
The balloon cruised above the Earth, high enough to capture the dramatic curvature of the planet.
Mr Crowe said this week the team had launched the balloon earlier this month, choosing the Warrumbungles and Gunnedah for a number of reasons.
"We thought what better place for launching than the Warrumbungles and going on to the Pilliga and Gunnedah," he said.
"Other than the natural beauty, it is also quite a way from the coast and balloons have a way of falling into the ocean, so we went inland a little bit. There is also plenty of good farmland there."
It is the second launch for the young University of NSW team, who last year launched a $2000 helium balloon over the Hunter Valley.
The successful launch and recovery led to the team winning the Best Science Experiment Prize in the inaugural Global Space Balloon Challenge in 2014.
Mr Crowe said part of the prize was another balloon, and the team decided to test out a solar flight rather than the method of packing the expensive equipment in polystyrene to keep it warm. The payload carries two high-definition cameras along with sensors and equipment to measure atmospheric radiation, temperature and pressure, and solar flux.
"It was a similar kind of balloon, but we used solar energy," he said. "It needs a little bit of warmth so everything doesn't go kaput."
He said the change meant the balloon went to 34km instead of the 32km in the last flight before the difference in pressure caused the balloon to expand and explode, floating back to Earth with the help of a parachute.
Mr Crowe said while solar energy had been used in a similar experiment in the United States, this experiment had been more successful.
The balloon came down just north-west of Gunnedah, where a bemused farmer wondered what was going on.
"The photos showcase the landscape," Mr Crowe said.
"We were hoping to see some beautiful landscapes, and we did. Over the Warrumbungles, we saw some lovely shadows and the town of Coonabarabran and Gunnedah.
"There were some other interesting things. There were quite a few locusts in Gunnedah and we were covered in locusts for a short time."
The flight gathered a large amount of data. Mr Crowe is studying the use of spacecraft in asteroid mining, and is looking at low-cost space data gathering.
The team will enter the experiement in the 2015 Global Space Balloon Challenge where they will be up against more than 210 teams from 45 countries.
"We will be trying to back for another year," Mr Crowe said. "It is a global competition, and it is great to see people like us from Australia winning prizes."
The flight was sponsored by the UNSW School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering.