The balloon ascends, expanding as it rises into thinner and thinner atmosphere, driven in whatever direction the wind blows it, collecting data as it goes, until it reaches a height of 80,000 to 100,000 feet. At that point it bursts. As the assemblage descends, the parachute eventually encounters thicker air and the payload drifts downward, to be recovered in a cross-country chase by a group of enthusiastic students. The experiments are then brought back to the lab and their results analyzed.