Flight #5
Launch Date: Saturday, October 9, 1999
October 26, 1999
Balloon Flight Path
All points reported via GPS log.
GPS lost lock at 1538z, more than an hour before touchdown.
October 19, 1999
Payload assembly photos now online.
October 18, 1999
Success!!
The gondola of flight #5 has been found! An off-duty
fire fighter came across the gondola, batteries long since
dead, in a wooded area in northern Minnesota. He contacted
us and returned it the next day. Extra special thanks to
this individual (who I will write more about when I get
the details and his permission) for saving the day!
The gondola was somewhat the worse for wear, as you
can see here:
The onboard cameras were undamaged, and the
flight photos turned
out pretty well. Some of the radio gear was damaged
in the landing, and awaits testing and repairs. The
parachute was missing. It appears that the 'chute was lost
some time during descent. This allowed the
gondola to free-fall an undetermined distance to the ground.
The
person who found it said he estimates the gondola
came to rest about 30 feet from where it initially
impacted.
The APRS/GPS gear on the gondola sent position fixes
for the first hour of the flight. According to temperature
data, the GPS lost its lock on the satellite signals during
descent. Given the usual tumbling and spinning our gondolas
do during descent, this is not surprising.
October 8, 1999
Final preperations have been made for tomorrow's flight.
New software has been written
and tweaked to function properly with the Mic-E APRS
transmitter hardware. This new software transmits a
30 second tracking tone, then the balloon identifier
in CW. The Mic-E adds an APRS packet at the end of
transmission, or every minute. The thermistor temperature
probes have been removed from the Stamp II due to reliability
problems and attached to the Mic-E unit (which does a much
better job of reading them and adds their values to the APRS
packet).
The primary mission this time will be to test the APRS hardware
and software. Some plant seeds will be carried aloft as well,
then donated to a local youth science center for study.
The usual twin 35mm cameras will also fly.
The payload will be launched from Niagra, North Dakota, at
about 10:00 am central time. Expected flight time is about
two hours. Battery capacity should run the transmitter and
computer for about 12 hours.
September 27, 1999
Due to questionable weather conditions and equipment problems,
flight #5 has been postponed.
September 21, 1999
Planning for flight #5 is essentially complete, however payload
construction is in its usual "wait-until-the-last-possible-minute"
mode. Unfortunately, vacation plus illness plus catching up at
work has also delayed my updating of the website to the same
degree.
This flight will see the construction of our third gondola. Also,
some new flight hardware will be added. In addition to the normal
basic stamp II microcontroller, 35mm cameras, servos, and Alinco
2M transceiver, we will be adding a Motorola GPS receiver and an
APRS processor. The GPS receiver will require its own battery pack
(it draws about 1 watt of power), while the APRS board will be slaved
off the standard 9 volt lithium flight pack. With the added weight
of the new electronics, the payload has slipped into the heavy-weight
section of the FAA FAR 101 rules, so an independant cutdown mechanism
is also being added to release the balloon after a set time. It is
hoped that the addition of APRS will allow easier recovery of the
gondola after it lands.
Testing of the GPS/APRS system will be the main focus of this flight,
but the usual vertical/horizontal 35mm film cameras will be included.
Also, one of our physics guys is going to fly some plant seeds and
donate them to a local youth science center.
Experiments with various swing and spin damper designs haven't lead to
anything useful yet (unless you count the humorous aspect of trying to
dodge a runaway flywheel that escaped its mount), so this flight will
not incorporate any stabilizers.
Gondola construction photos
Return to the UND HABP webpage.