In collaboration with the Eastern Iowa Cosmic Conference, the Metro STEAM Academy is launching a Weather Balloon from the Living Learning Roof of the Cedar Rapids Downtown Public Library on May 16, 2026.

Launch pep starts at 9:30 AM with the launch at 10:00AM. Come watch and learn how and why this is done to study our atmosphere and how this relates to Astronomy. The students will be tracking the balloon’s flight using onboard tracking telemetry and you can follow the flight as it approached 100,00 ft over Eastern Iowa. Learn about the experiment the students are doing using onboard beetles that will be launched with the balloon.