Near Space Ballooning

8/2/2019 Near Space Ballooning

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The Joy of

High-AltitudeBallooning

Mark Rowzee & Geoff SchmitNaperville North High School

DuPage County Science Institute Day 2012Tuesday, 21 May 13


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Tuesday, 21 May 13


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High-Altitude

Ballooning

sending a small payload to the edge ofspace by means of a sounding balloon... and hopefully getting it back

also known as: space ballooning, near-space

ballooning

Tuesday, 21 May 13


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Why Would You Do This?

fantastic STEM project

incorporates various disciplines (physics,earth science, weather, engineering,electronics, photography)

did you see the photos?

Tuesday, 21 May 13


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Minimum Equipment

sounding balloon and helium

parachute

cut down mechanism

payload

camera

tracker

Tuesday, 21 May 13


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Sounding Balloon

most expensive part

500 g 3000 g

we used 1000 g last year

2-m diameter at release

8-m diameter at burst

purchase from Kaymont

Tuesday, 21 May 13


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Parachute

low cost: borrow akindergarten teachers

design challenge: keepparachute from getting

tangled

Tuesday, 21 May 13


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Cut-Down Mechanism

FAA requires two cut-down mechanisms

#1: balloon bursts

#2: nicrome wire meltsthrough cord betweenpayload and balloon

controlled with timedrelay

Tuesday, 21 May 13


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Payload

insulates and protectselectronics

low cost: take the onesitting in the back ofyour classroom

high-end: ripstop nylon

sewn shell with tie loopsaround insulationstructure or insulatedlunch bags

Tuesday, 21 May 13


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Camera

still or video or both!

low cost: CanonPowerShot (replacefirmware), old Flip cam

high-end: GoPro HDHERO (still and video)

Tuesday, 21 May 13


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Tracker

communicates payloadlocation

low-cost: SPOT SatelliteGPS messenger

high-end: GPS receiver

and APRS radiotransmitter & ground-based radio receiver

Tuesday, 21 May 13


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Extra Goodies

sensors

experiments

lithium batteries

hand warmers

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Sensors

data loggers for

temperature, pressure,radiation

Arudino microcontrollerwith data logging shield

(stores data on SD card)and sensors

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Experiments

creativity runs wild

bacteria samples

gushers candies

this year?

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Other Stuff You Need

flight path prediction

weather report

launch site

launch procedure

recovery plan

luck

Tuesday, 21 May 13


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Flight Path Prediction

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Weather

Earlier in the day is best chance to avoid badweather. In the lower levels it still is consistently asouthwest wind. As you go higher it turns a littlemore from the west and a little less south, but still ageneral West/Southwest flow most all the way up soI would guess somewhere in North Central Indianaas your landing point depending on how long it is in

the air (winds are pretty strong in the lower levels,so it might take off pretty quickly). Let me know ifyou have any questions. Zach Horn

Tuesday, 21 May 13


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Launch Site

steer clear of the lake

El Paso, Illinois (2 hourssouthwest)

pavilion,powered outlets,

restrooms,open field,few power lines

Tuesday, 21 May 13


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Launch Procedure

plan out what everyoneis going to do

takes us a long time toget ready to release

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Recovery Plan

sometimes you get the

GPS data and you find ithere

... and sometimes withAPRS receivers you can

catch the payload as itfloat to the ground

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Recovery Plan

... and sometimes youfind it here

it took 3 weeks to get itdown

everything survived

(except for the top ofthe tree)

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What You Get Back!

photos

videos

data

excited kids

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temperatureC

co

unts

time

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Postscript

One student has started his own

nonprofit, Space for All, to share his passionfor space exploration

Another student is an intern at Adler

Planetarium's Far Horizons project assistingwith their launches

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2012 Launch

NNHS Physics Club will help 3 elementary

and 2 junior-high groups developexperiment payload ideas

Day at NNHS Mission Control with real-

time tracking and video feeds on launch day

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[email protected]

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Near Space Ballooning