IT may not be the Final Frontier.

But a Highburton man is getting closer than most to space exploration.

And if you want to take your own stunning pictures of Earth from space, all you need is £500 and a bit of technical know-how.

These spectacular shots of our planet were taken by Robert Harrison, of Highburton, using a standard camera attached to a weather balloon.

Robert, 38, has launched 12 High Altitude Balloons (HABs), since October 2008.

The idea was born when Robert, an IT director, attempted to attach a camera to his remote control helicopter to take an aerial snap of his house.

It didn’t work so dad-of-three Robert went online and discovered a Canadian man who had been taking high altitude pictures using weather balloons.

The idea snowballed from there and in October 2008, Robert launched his first HAB, named ‘Icarus I’.

The launch was an instant success.

At 35km above Earth’s surface, well into the stratosphere, you can capture over 1,000 miles of the planet’s surface in one shot. That’s the distance from Aberdeen to Nice in the south of France.

And Robert is one of just 40 people in the world using HABs for fun.

He’s designing his third module, Icarus III, which has a rotating lens camera and a rear fixed lens camera, together with pressure, temperature and humidity sensors.

Robert said: “It was a case of boredom. I got a radio control helicopter and thought it would be good to attach a camera, which didn’t work.

For an amazing gallery of pictures from Robert, click on the icon on the next page.

“So I thought I would use a balloon. But I thought if I cut the string I’ll lose the camera so I got the transmitter and a parachute to get it back.

“We got satisfactory results with the first launch but it nearly landed in the sea. People think this is something that costs millions but it doesn’t. NASA were really impressed we were doing it for such a low price.

“We were sat in a local pub at the time and I was gobsmacked when I got the images.

“Seeing the highest pictures was amazing. That’s a lifetime achievement.

“This year I’m aware of six universities interested.

“You just need a little money and a bit of technical know-how. I know nothing about electronics and what I do know, I learned from the internet.

“My family and friends thought I was a bit mad a first but they were suitably impressed with the results. The pictures speak for themselves.”

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Robert’s balloons reach the middle of the stratosphere, which stretches from 10km above the earth to 50km.

Above that is the mesosphere, stretching to 90km above the surface, and beyond that is the thermosphere.

There is actually no definite boundary that marks the top of the atmosphere, but eventually it becomes so completely tenuous that for practical purposes it can be regarded as ‘space’.

Passenger aircraft fly at 9km, the Space Shuttle at 300km and the Space Station orbits at 350km.