Balloon Launch August 26, 2012

Goal

• Launch with hydrogen as lifting gas.
• Test 6 second aprs data on 144.31 MHz
• Launch and track with just two people.

Flight

• Launch at WWCC: 12:33:00 PDT, 46.07827, -118.28121
• Burst 5 miles SE of Dusty, WA: 14:32:32 PDT, 46.74385, -117.59705
• Highest recorded altitude: 28,942 m (94,954 ft)
• Landing 1.5 miles N of Steptoe Butte State Park: ~15:22 PDT, 47.05707, -117.28427
• Flight time: 2 hours up, 50 minutes down
• Distance between launching and landing sites: 133 km (82.6 miles)
  
  

  SPOT locations for Aug 2012

  

  APRS on 144.31, 6 sec intervals

  

  APRS on 144.39, 1 minute intervals

Contents

Identical to June 30, 2012 launch .

Analysis

• We used approximately 117 ft^3 of hyrdrogen and there were no injuries due ignition of the hydrogen. I spoke to a knowledgable person at Oxarc and a forecaster at the National Weather Service in Pendleton beforehand and their recommendation was to minimize static buildup with grounding and fill the balloon slowly.
• Six second APRS on 144.310 worked spartically. Packets were received at the both a home location and a car but not always decoded. We suspect that this was due to cold and will use more than the four handwarmers that were used in the pod for this launch.
• Launching, tracking, and recovery with two people was not a problem.
• Snafu: The connector to the battery for the two APRS units was not tape down and disconnected soon after burst. There was no APRS tracking data on descent. We had a good idea where it was going to land and just waited until we had two SPOT readings that were at the same location before preceeding out of cell phone range and into the fields.
• The balloon strings did not tangle in the parachute lines. It apprears that shortening these balloon strings did help.
• This is much more fun than geocaching.
  

  Just before inflation

  

  Pod contents

  

  

  Recovery in grassy field several 100 m off of one-lane dirt road
• The Canon Powershot lasted about 2 hours (limited battery) and took about 4.5 images a minute.
  

  WWCC

  

  WWCC parking lot

  

  Nelson Irrigation and Walla Walla Airport

  

  Walla Walla Regional Airport (ALW)

  

  Mill Creek (4300 ft)

  

  Little Goose Dam on Snake River with Tucannon River (43000 ft)

  

  Clouds (45000 ft)

  

  Lower Monumental Dam on the Snake River (51000 ft)

  

  Clouds and blackness of space (66000 ft)

  

  Clouds (79000 ft)

  

  Clouds and Snake River Canyon (85000 ft)

  

  Clouds and Snake River (87000 ft)

Plans for this Launch

• Shorten lines holding balloon to reduce chance of tangling. DONE
  • Possibly shorten other lines. WILL NOT DO
• Use hydrogen. Our supplier told us there is a acute, worldwide shortage of helium.
  • Need to order this week for delivery on Tuesday. Comes in 118 ft^3 and 195 ft^3
  • Purchased 118 ft^3
• Find camera system to take pictures more often than once every 20-30 seconds. Our present camera was limited by battery and it did not seem as if it could be powered by an external battery. WILL NOT DO
• Buy a SPOT. We are borrowing one but are probably borrowing more often than I am comfortable with.
• Develop a balloon computer. (All phases may not be completed for this launch.) WILL NOT DO
  • Phase I: Record and store information from sensors.
  • Phase II: Transmit information to ground receivers.
  • Phase III: Control devices in the balloon based on information from sensors.
  • Phase IV: Receive information/commands from ground.
• Develop a landing prediction system based winds during ascent, and current and predicted descent rates. STARTED BUT NOT DONE