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The Project:
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To launch and recover a weather balloon into the
Stratosphere and photograph the edge of space.
- LAUNCH DATE 12/2/2011 -
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Overview: |
This December we will set out to launch a weather balloon carrying a camera, a thermometer a heater, a power supply and a tracking system. the goal will be to get a series of photographs of near space and prove out a system for later launches. | ||
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The Equipment
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Balloon:
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I will be using an 800 gram sounding balloon from Kaymont. this will burst when it expands to 23' and should rise to greater then 90,000 feet.
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Lifting Gas:
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I will be using Hydrogen for the lifting gas. I understand the risks and will be taking some precautions to keep things safe. I want to use the H because of the lift 2X greater then helium.
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Lifting Line:
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The line requirement is that it must break with 50 pounds of force. I found an 1/8" ploy line rate at 40 pounds.
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Radar Reflector:
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This is also required, so any aircraft equipped with radar can spot the balloon and avoid it.
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Parachute:
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I currently have two, a 36" and a 60" I am testing to determine which will work the best. I want the payload to descend safely, but too slow and I will have father to chase the payload.
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Payload container:
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I will be using a Styrofoam shipping container I bought used. It's bigger then I was hoping for. But the price and availability made it a good choice. It is 11x15x10 and weighs 12 oz. | ||
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Camera:
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The camera is a Canon power shot A480 (10mp). powered by lithium batteries (for the cold) It has a 16 GB SD card. the SD card has been partitioned with a 2MB boot partition and loaded with CHDK. CHDK allows for extend features and the ability to run scripts. I also loaded it with a script ul_intrvl, this allows the camera to shoot an image every X seconds for X many images.
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Tracking:
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A motrola i335 cell phone by Boost Mobile loaded with an APP from INSTAMAPPER will be on board to broad cast the live GPS location. This will allow tracking of the payload in real time until it is too high and again as it descends.
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--check back for updates--
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LAUNCH DATE 12/2/2011
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