Raspberry Pi Endurance Test in Stratosphere

Raspberry Pi put to the test Raspberry Pi in the stratosphere

2025-09-23 From Margit Kuther Margit Kuther 1 min Reading Time

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Raspberry Pi and the Pi camera module are not only inexpensive and flexible. They are also extremely robust, as a successful trip into the stratosphere shows.

Endurance test in the stratosphere: Raspberry Pi Zero W with Pi camera module.(Image: Elvis Andrés Ayala) — Endurance test in the stratosphere: Raspberry Pi Zero W with Pi camera module.
(Image: Elvis Andrés Ayala)

Elvis Andrés Ayala, an electronics engineer who is passionate about developing accessible technologies for space exploration, talks about his Trinidad project on Raspberrypi.com, which was made possible thanks to Raspberry Pi hardware.

Last year, Ayala had the opportunity to take part in a NASA scientific mission called EMIDSS (Experimental Module for the Iterative Design of Satellite Subsystems), where he launched the first version of the Trinidad system: an imaging module based on a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W and a Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3, housed in a 3D-printed case. Raspberry Pi Zero W and camera module reached an average altitude of 42 km in the stratosphere. From there, the camera module successfully captured images under extreme conditions, including temperatures below -50 °C.

Gallery

Image of the stratospheric balloon on its return (red circle).(Image: Elvis Andrés Ayala)

Trinidad version 2 with additional sensors.(Image: Elvis Andrés Ayala)

Version 1 from Trinidad(Image: Elvis Andrés Ayala)

Gallery with 6 images

Sensory improvement

This year, Elvis Trinidad developed version 2 - an improved system that integrates new sensors and extended functions. In addition to capturing images, version 2 can also collect relevant environmental data from the stratosphere. This updated version, like the first, will be launched aboard a stratospheric balloon from the NASA base in Fort Sumner, New Mexico.

Affordable aerospace systems

Elvis wants his project to show that it is possible to develop functional, low-cost aerospace systems using off-the-shelf components. He hopes that systems like Trinidad will become powerful teaching tools for universities and schools and open up new opportunities for students and enthusiasts who dream of flying into space.

Raspberry Pi already traveled to the stratosphere in 2014

Stratospheric flight 2014: Superman and Raspberry Pi(Image: RS Components) — Stratospheric flight 2014: Superman and Raspberry Pi
(Image: RS Components)

Back in November 2014, RS Components realized an extreme toy journey of Superman and Raspberry Pi into the stratosphere via its electronics development community DesignSpark with Mattel, including a successful jump from a height of 29 km. Details can be found in the article "Raspberry Pi and Superman in the stratosphere". (mk)

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