Propeller safely returns from 104,000 foot high vacation
Lev
Posts: 182
Flight Report:
These students launched and successfully recovered a Propeller payload on Monday from a near-space vacation. A project description is at :
http://unh.edu/unhtoday/2012/07/high-schoolers-launch-balloon-outer-space-unh-summer-institute
The students learned basic SPIN programming prior to the launch. The payload reached an altitude over 104,000 feet. The controller was a Propeller Quickstart board, enclosed by only 1/4" of pink styrofoam. The code was still cranking away when we recovered it. The payload included the Parallax PMB-648 GPS, and 2 Parallax MS5607 altimeters. The GPS dropped out at about 78,000 feet, and came back on line during descent at about 60,000 feet. Pressure altimeter data, all GPS data, and Geiger click count were all recorded on a SD card.
Tomorrow, the recovered Propeller will suffer even more in a vacuum chamber to simulate conditions in space. The vacuum chamber is operated by folks at the Institute for the Study of Earth, Ocean and Space at the University of New Hampshire. It survived 104 k ft, but will it survive this?...mu ha hah hah We'll try to get a picture through the observation window.
These students launched and successfully recovered a Propeller payload on Monday from a near-space vacation. A project description is at :
http://unh.edu/unhtoday/2012/07/high-schoolers-launch-balloon-outer-space-unh-summer-institute
The students learned basic SPIN programming prior to the launch. The payload reached an altitude over 104,000 feet. The controller was a Propeller Quickstart board, enclosed by only 1/4" of pink styrofoam. The code was still cranking away when we recovered it. The payload included the Parallax PMB-648 GPS, and 2 Parallax MS5607 altimeters. The GPS dropped out at about 78,000 feet, and came back on line during descent at about 60,000 feet. Pressure altimeter data, all GPS data, and Geiger click count were all recorded on a SD card.
Tomorrow, the recovered Propeller will suffer even more in a vacuum chamber to simulate conditions in space. The vacuum chamber is operated by folks at the Institute for the Study of Earth, Ocean and Space at the University of New Hampshire. It survived 104 k ft, but will it survive this?...mu ha hah hah We'll try to get a picture through the observation window.
Comments
Would like to see this in the completed projects area.
Now someone call Guinness! I think that's the highest flying Quickstart to date!
Good job guys!
Jim
Especially for scientific work, I've always found that apparent behaviour, of not showing the actual measured results, a bit strange but I guess that's because I've never known imperial measurements.
I don't really think it is strange. This was a casual general interest posting to a forum, not a scientific publication. But, for those interested, I converted from metric to imperial and reported only 3 significant digits, which is certainly appropriate for the uncertainty in the measurement at this altitude.
'Very nice project and write-up! It's really great to see high-school-age students involved in projects like this. It bodes well for our future to see this level of hands-on participation among the upcoming builders and shakers. 'Great work!
-Phil
I suppose what I meant by strange is two fold: It does puzzle me that the unconverted metric figures are not even posted. This happens more often than not! And I personally expect to see metric. Metric is more readable for me and for most of the world I suspect.
Considering most things at work are measured in furlongs and miles it isn't too bad. Strangely all of the dishes are Andrews and therefore American and yet they are always quoted as metric diameters.
I have agree with Phil they did a great job and continue the their success with us.
What a great project. Good job they did not get any higher as everyone knows propellers do not work in space:)
@evanh
Re: metric vs imperial
Normally I would agree with you, but this is in the context of high altitude ballooning. Most of the worlds aviators express altitude in feet. Exceptions include Russia, China, Mongolia, North Korea. In fact the ICAO, International Civil Aviation Organization, has mandated that altitudes and flight levels will be measured in feet.
I would prefer my science to be done in metric on the other hand I want my beer in pints, potatoes in pounds, driving distances in miles etc.
How far away did it land? This experiment would be fun to try. I live by Chicago, and the wind usually blows towards Lake Michigan. Would we need to set up a boat for the recovery team, or just call some guys from Kalamazoo?
@Prof Braino : We launched in Vernon VT and recovered in Templeton MA. I'll post the tracking map when it is ready. The balloon actually backtracked while at very high altitude because Earth rotated beneath the balloon and the rarified atmosphere did not drag it along. If you are interested in a water recovery, I hear a group in Massachusetts recovers their balloons in Cape Cod bay. I could find out more if you are interested.
See, conclusive proof. That was the point where the propeller stopped working due to the lack of atmosphere:)
More seriously I am pondering this. I would have guessed that as long as the air is dense enough to be holding up the balloon the balloon has no choice but to move with the air. Which would imply to me that the air is also back tracking at that altitude.
You will need to be careful about getting into the airspace of O'hare in the Chicago area!! I used to live in a suburb not far from O'hare and was at a park with my nephew flying a kite. We managed to get the kite into the airspace of O'hare and the police were dispatched to order us to get it out of their airspace!!
Personally I'm thinking we could launch it further west and include a transponder combined with the gps, altimeter, etc to let us know where it is!
That's fantastic!! You and your students should be proud of what the accomplished!
I am on my way to the university now. I'll ask others in the group if they would like to jump in and contribute to this thread. They have much more experience with ballooning than I do. My role was primarily the Propeller and the code. I'll post more later. I'll check with others in the group about posting the 3D trajectory plot, data, and maybe a link to the movies.
Should this thread be moved to completed projects, as suggested by Publison ? It seems like we could have an interesting discussion about micros and circuits in general at high altitude.
Here are the rules:
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?115062-Show-your-projects-on-Parallax.com-and-receive-credit-toward-Parallax-products.
Jim
I was a part of the group that launched the balloon and payload. I thought I'd share some telemetry data from APRS and a couple of still frames from the onboard video cameras:
I don't believe anyone else in our group besides Lev is registered on the Parallax forums, but I'd be happy to answer any questions about the project you may have.
Andrew
Andrew, I watched ever post last year on the rocket launch, and what a great job that was!
You guys have outdone yourselves this year. You are on a good path!
Jim
Jim,
I have definitely seen some familiar names in this thread! Parallax and the Parallax Forums community was incredibly helpful to get our project launched, pun intended. Though, I should clarify that this project was done by a separate group, and I just happened to be involved. Nonetheless, you'll probably hear from our rocketry team in the near future as we begin our next project. Thanks so much for your support!
The footage of the balloon popping is certainly fantastic! The balloon, a standard meteorological balloon, is actually designed to burst in that manner.
Thanks for the tip Jim. We will look into that.
Can you post the picture of the payload that shows the Quickstart and the prop sticker ? I think it is the picture that went on the AP wire.
Lev
I was, of course, talking about a common bad behaviour with online reporting of science, engineering, anything to do with measuring for that matter, more than this particular posting. I understand the need for a common measurement for something like air traffic control when science and engineering are not in contention.
Interestingly, this requirement of aviation does not apply to the general public at all. Unless we all start going for pilot licenses that is.
The science here was done in metric.
Hi evanh,
Hmm...I wonder if that link is getting hammered by viewers (this story has been picked up by the press). I can't get connect either.
Thanks for reminding me about the picture. I've uploaded it with this post. It shows the balloon payload as it was found after landing behind a semi-abandoned factory in Templeton, Massachusetts.
Andrew