170 lines
6.2 KiB
Markdown
Executable File
170 lines
6.2 KiB
Markdown
Executable File
Spaceblimp-4 sucessfully launched and retrieved: April 10, 2011 
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## Summary
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We launched from Breezewood Elementary School??? at 1:30 pm, the balloon
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popped at 2:41 pm at 103,764 ft, and touched back down at 3:09 pm.
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Again, we were exceptionally lucky with the recovery and were able to
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drive up to within 200 ft of the package.
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The "package" contains two GPS units connected to radio modems that
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transmit the balloon's location every 30s, various instruments, and
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still and video cameras. It's all enclosed in super-space-age,
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soft-sided insulated lunchboxes and secured to pegboard, cushioned for
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landing with pink insulation foam.
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<img src="_sb4_the_package.jpg" title="_sb4_the_package.jpg" width="430"
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alt="_sb4_the_package.jpg" />
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## Video
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This time, in addition to running a still camera, we also put up a HD
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video camera running 720p at 60 frames/sec. The results are fantastic!
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- [SB4 at apex on youtube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cz4s8potWE)
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about 80 seconds before the balloon popped.
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Notice how quickly it stabilized as the chute opened. Don't be deceived,
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though, it got up to 136 mph within the first minute of fall -- there's
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just not much chute drag in space.
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- [SB4 launch on youtube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwT_LmqpgCc).
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Skipping hours of preparation and 20 minutes filling up the balloon,
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going straight to the good stuff...
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Why no movies in-between? The clouds were very heavy on launch day, and
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most of the footage is white-out. Something failed in the video camera a
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few minutes after popping too, so there's no re-entry video.
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Oh yeah, and for fun all of the raw video is posted up on projects in
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/home/spaceblimp4, and here is the script I used to make the
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youtube-compatible videos: [Media:
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sb4_editingMovieForYoutube.txt](Media:_sb4_editingMovieForYoutube.txt "wikilink")
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## Data
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### On-board Logging
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The on-board datalogger keeps records of interior/exterior temperature
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and GPS data.
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[Media: SB-4_flight_log.gz](Media:_SB-4_flight_log.gz "wikilink") (and
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here's the code in R that generates the above images, and some PDFs to
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boot: [Media:
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spaceblimp4_analysis.gz](Media:_spaceblimp4_analysis.gz "wikilink"))
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<img src="_sb4_altitude_time.png" title="_sb4_altitude_time.png"
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width="300" alt="_sb4_altitude_time.png" />
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<img src="_sb4_gpsHeading_time.png" title="_sb4_gpsHeading_time.png"
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width="300" alt="_sb4_gpsHeading_time.png" />
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<img src="_sb4_location.png" title="_sb4_location.png" width="300"
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alt="_sb4_location.png" /> <img src="_sb4_riseSpeed_altitude.png"
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title="_sb4_riseSpeed_altitude.png" width="300"
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alt="_sb4_riseSpeed_altitude.png" />
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<img src="_sb4_riseSpeed_histogram.png"
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title="_sb4_riseSpeed_histogram.png" width="300"
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alt="_sb4_riseSpeed_histogram.png" />
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<img src="_sb4_riseSpeed_time.png" title="_sb4_riseSpeed_time.png"
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width="300" alt="_sb4_riseSpeed_time.png" />
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<img src="_sb4_temp_altitude.png" title="_sb4_temp_altitude.png"
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width="300" alt="_sb4_temp_altitude.png" />
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<img src="_sb4_temp_time.png" title="_sb4_temp_time.png" width="300"
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alt="_sb4_temp_time.png" /> <img src="_sb4_windspeed_altitude.png"
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title="_sb4_windspeed_altitude.png" width="300"
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alt="_sb4_windspeed_altitude.png" />
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<img src="_sb4_windspeed_time.png" title="_sb4_windspeed_time.png"
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width="300" alt="_sb4_windspeed_time.png" />
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### Accelerometer
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The accelerometer package flown was the same as last time, with the
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exception of having half the memory, so there are 50 observations per
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second. The data are 0-255, with (roughly) 127 being no acceleration. If
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you graph it, you can clearly see liftoff, popping, and landing. Until
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we get some time for analysis, the rest is left up to you:
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<figure>
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<img src="_sb4_accelerometer.png" title="_sb4_accelerometer.png"
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width="300" />
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<figcaption>_sb4_accelerometer.png</figcaption>
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</figure>
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[Accelerometer CSV raw
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data](http://www.postero.us/spaceblimp4_accelerometer.csv.gz) Here's
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some python code to get you started with the accelerometer data: [Media:
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analyseAccelerometer.py](Media:_analyseAccelerometer.py "wikilink").
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(Requires SciPy for plotting.)
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## Launch Plans (Historic)
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<table>
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<thead>
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<tr class="header">
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<th style="text-align: right;"><p>Planned launch date:</p></th>
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<th><p>Sunday, April 10, 2011</p></th>
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</tr>
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</thead>
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<tbody>
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<tr class="odd">
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<td style="text-align: right;"><p>Launch time:</p></td>
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<td><p>10:00 AM, Launch should take less than an hour.</p></td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="even">
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<td style="text-align: right;" data-valign="top"><p>Launch
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Location:</p></td>
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<td><dl>
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<dt></dt>
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<dd>
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Where: Breezewood Elementary School???
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</dd>
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<dd>
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Address: 133 North Main Street, Breezewood PA 15533-8142
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</dd>
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<dd>
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Lat/Long: 39.9970,-78.2440
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</dd>
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</dl></td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="odd">
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<td style="text-align: right;"><p>Coordination/Talk-in:</p></td>
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<td><p>146.685 MHz simplex</p></td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="even">
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<td style="text-align: right;"><p>Planned Altitude:</p></td>
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<td><p>100,000 feet</p></td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="odd">
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<td style="text-align: right;"><p>Planned Ascent Rate:</p></td>
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<td><p>1,300 ft/min</p></td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="even">
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<td style="text-align: right;"><p>Planned Descent Rate:</p></td>
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<td><p>1,000 ft/min</p></td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="odd">
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<td style="text-align: right;"><p>Primary Beacon:</p></td>
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<td><p>Tiny Track 4 with 0.5 W transmitter on 144.390 MHz, call sign
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W3HAC-11 (<a href="http://aprs.fi/?call=W3HAC-11">map</a>). $3 GPS
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module</p></td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="even">
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<td style="text-align: right;"><p>Secondary Beacon:</p></td>
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<td><p>Son-of-WhereAVR with ublox GPS. Yaesu VX-1 handi-talkie with 1 W
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Transmitter, call sign W3HAC-12 (<a
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href="http://aprs.fi/?call=W3HAC-12">map</a>), Frequency 432.225
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MHz</p></td>
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</tr>
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<tr class="odd">
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<td style="text-align: right;"><p>Payload:</p></td>
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<td><p>Still camera, HD video camera, Geiger counter to measure cosmic
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rays, a nine degree of freedom Inertial Measurement Unit, accelerometer,
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pressure, light and temperature sensors.</p></td>
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</tr>
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</tbody>
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</table>
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The balloon is a 2000g Kaymont/Totex with 291 cubic feet of helium. The
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total weight of the capsule is about five pounds. |