Future projects:

Technical:

• A command receiver will be added to the package to act as a backup to automatic control of the cut-down mechanism.
• Ultra-violet light flux meter.
• Electric 'field mill' to measure the earth's electric field at altitude.
• X-ray scintillation detector to measure radiation levels.
• ATV video camera/transmitter to capture real-time images of the ground, horizon, payload, and balloon.
• Steerable parachute to allow the gondola to activly seek a designated landing site.

Logistic/Procedural

• Design and build flight hardware over a longer timeline, with less frantic last-minute action.
• Establish a better mechanism for communicating with our amateur radio chasers and monitors. In the past, calling a mission off at the last minute has lead to confusion and annoyance to many folks. We will try to avoid this in the future.
• Establish a fixed control station in a high location (Space Studies Dept., 5th floor of Clifford Hall). Using a mobile control station has proven problematic.
• Keep the web page better up-to-date. The web page is our backup communications channel with hams and monitors.
• Make better design decisions. Having more leadtime will help avoid throwing together kludges at the last minute to get the thing airborne.

• We are working with both the UND Electrical Engineering Dept. and the Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium on a project involving a satellite design course. The course teaches EE students spacecraft design concepts through hands-on designing and building of hardware and software. While launching actual spacecraft is still a ways off, our group is providing access to the near space environment for student-built payloads.
• Members of our group recently made a trip to Rosebud, South Dakota, to give presentations at three Native American schools. We brought a recovered gondola from Flight 2000-1, a videotape of highlights of our previous missions, radio tracking gear, and other flight hardware. Our goal was to show how near-space research could be done on a budget, and to try to get people more enthused about science. We also did two tethered balloon flights lofting a camera-only payload, and released three 300g balloons with messages attached to them. The trip went very well, our hosts from Sinte Gleska University were very gracious and accomodating, and everyone had a great time. A report on the trip is available online.