Last year, more than 1,500 cadets from 122 squadrons across all eight Civil Air Patrol regions participated in CAP's National High-Altitude Balloon Challenge. Our cadets designed more than 500 experiments for launching to the stratosphere in 50-milliliter test tubes on high-altitude weather balloons. Begun as the first national cadet STEM competition in 2021, the balloon challenge involves innovative cadet-designed science experiments to test high altitudes’ effects on various items. Teams from

Last year, a high-altitude balloon drifted over the US with minimal military response at first. Recent concerns about Russia possibly deploying nuclear weapons in space have surfaced, though denied by Russia. What’s the big deal? A nuclear electromagnetic pulse (EMP), the worst-case scenario, could fry all electronics (unless shielded). When a nuke explodes high above Earth, it emits gamma radiation, interacting with the atmosphere to create a potent electromagnetic field. No warning! A nuclear