APSU physics students launch hops into stratosphere for new Strawberry Alley beer
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. 鈥 In the waning light of a January afternoon, a group of Austin Peay State University physics students pushed through branches and saplings as they hiked up a steep hill outside of Carthage, Tennessee. The team of young researchers was looking for a high-altitude weather balloon they鈥檇 launched 93,000 feet into the stratosphere earlier that day. A tracking device, attached to the balloon, led them more than 100 miles from campus into that dark canopy of trees, and when they finally found the payload and its parachute, a hopeless 鈥渨hat do we do now?鈥 expression caused their teeth to clinch.
鈥淚t was a rough hike, really steep, and we found it about 60 feet up in a tree,鈥 Bryan Gaither, APSU physics, astronomy and engineering lab manager, said. 鈥淚t was going to be a long day.鈥
Gaither clipped on his tree-climbing gear and slowly made his way toward the stranded payload. To the west, the sun sank deeper behind the hillside, casing the mild winter air to drop several degrees.
鈥淲e were fighting daylight hard and my hands were cramping,鈥 Gaither said. 鈥淚 got all the way up to as high as my gear would let me go, and then I pulled up this 16-foot pole saw, and for an hour and a half I worked at it.鈥
Story continues below
The marooned payload carried important scientific data the team wanted to recover, but Gaither also hoped to retrieve the two special containers he鈥檇 attached to the balloon that morning. Inside were beer hops that had traveled high into that hazy region known as near space.
鈥淚 want some hoppy beer out of this,鈥 he said.
High-altitude beer
Earlier that day, Wes Cunningham with Strawberry Alley Ale Works stood in Clarksville鈥檚 Downtown Commons park, watching the APSU physics students inflate a large, two-kilogram weather balloon. A loud hiss accompanied the process, causing a few morning commuters to pause and look suspiciously at Cunningham and the others.
鈥淭his was Bryan鈥檚 crazy idea to send up a balloon with some beer hops,鈥 Cunningham said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 going to send up some hops to near space, and once it comes back down, we鈥檙e going to brew a special batch of beer with it.鈥
For the last few months, Austin Peay has worked to expand its reach into downtown Clarksville, partnering with local businesses on different initiatives. In September, the College of STEM launched its monthly 鈥淪cience on Tap鈥 lecture series, which features APSU faculty presenting fascinating scientific talks inside Strawberry Alley Ale Works. In December, when the University鈥檚 football team made its historic playoff run, Austin Peay hosted a game watch party, sponsored by Fortera Credit Union, at the downtown restaurant.
鈥淚t鈥檚 great when you can find ways to tie the university and the community together,鈥 Dr. Karen Meisch, dean of the APSU College of STEM, said.
Strawberry Alley will host a tapping party for the special beer later this spring.
Actual Science
Last June, APSU physics student Zach Hill, along with fellow student Zach Givens, attended Rocket Week at NASA鈥檚 Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, where he helped send Austin Peay鈥檚 first payload into space. Seven months later, on that chilly but clear January morning in Downtown Commons, Hill made a final check of his equipment before sending it into the stratosphere. Launching beer hops 96,000 feet into the air makes for a fun story around the bar, but Hill鈥檚 work 鈥 the main reason for that day鈥檚 balloon launch 鈥 may put APSU one step closer to one day having an actual satellite in space.
For the project, he used a wireless technology called ZigBee to test the ability for different payload boxes to send data to each other during a flight.
鈥淶igBee is a wireless protocol similar in some ways to Bluetooth,鈥 Hill said. 鈥淓ssentially it's just a way for two devices to communicate with each other wirelessly. What I have been working on is a way to connect different balloon payloads running different experiments together wirelessly so that we can break a large experiment up into multiple parts. My payloads recorded things like temperature, pressure and acceleration and communicated that using ZigBee to a device which recorded the data.鈥
If the ZigBee works better than Bluetooth technology, then the department will look at sending up two balloons to see if they can communicate with each other. From there, it鈥檚 just a short leap to recording data from an Austin Peay satellite.
Once Hill finished checking the payloads, he stepped away so Gaither, wearing a Strawberry Alley T-Shirt, could release the balloon into the air.
鈥淒o we have tracking data?鈥 Gaither shouted. The students checked their phones, confirming that they would be able to track the balloon.
After a brief countdown, Gaither released the balloon, which quickly rose into the air. The APSU physics team packed up their gear and headed off in pursuit of the balloon. On the way to one of the trucks, someone said they hoped it would land in an open field, making for an easy day鈥檚 work.
News Feed
View All News
Austin Peay State University's College of STEM has named Dr. Chris Gentry as its first professionalized associate dean, effective Jan. 1, 2026. Gentry, former chair of Earth and Environmental Sciences, will oversee student success, faculty development and college operations.
Read More
Dr. Jennifer Thompson, Austin Peay State University radiologic technology professor and program director, won the national Minnies Award for Most Effective Radiologic Science Educator from AuntMinnie.com, recognizing her 17-year commitment to student success and innovation in medical imaging education.
Read More
Calleway Schmidt spent six weeks in Rzesz贸w working alongside Ukranian and Polish students through the International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) program, continuing a partnership that APSU began in 2022.
Read More