HacDC Spaceblimp

A collection of stuff about HacDC's near space initiatives, including the Hackerspaces In Space Contest entry (2010).

Current Status

Spaceblimp 4 planned launch: Postponed

Launch will probably be close to Route 81 somewhere between Edinburg, VA and Hagerstown, MD. There are many places we're not allowed to fly so we have to be careful with our flightpath.

Payload will include still camera, HD video camera, Geiger counter to measure cosmic rays, a nine degree of freedom Inertial Measurement Unit, accelerometer, pressure, light and temperature sensors.

The balloon is a 2000g Kaymont/Totex with a couple of hundred cubic feet of helium. The total weight of the capsule is about five pounds.

APRS beacon W3HAC-11 144.390 MHz with UHF backup

Details: Spaceblimp-4

About the HacDC Spaceblimp Project

• On Aug 7, 2010, we launched our first balloon: HacDC Spaceblimp 1. Its epic journey began well enough, but the antenna came loose somewhere around 60,000 ft and we never heard from it again. Until three months later, when a farmer found it in her field, called up a friend (who happened to be an engineer) and it came back home. The pictures are fantastic, but the telemetry data was lost -- it overwrote itself many times over before the batteries finally gave up.

• Following (what we thought was) the loss of Spaceblimp-1, we scrambled and launched HacDC Spaceblimp 2 on Aug 21. It went flawlessly -- fast, light, and with good radio contact the whole way through. It may be the third fastest-ascending amateur radio balloon. We were disqualified from the Hackerspaces in Space competition because we went over budget, but they said we would have come in fourth if not. Sigh. But again, it was an inspiring success.

• HacDC Spaceblimp 3 was successfully launched and retrieved on 13 Nov 2010 with a much more involved payload than previous versions. More cameras, HD video, more radios, an accelerometer, geiger counter, pressure sensor. Weight and price weren't constraints this time.

• If you want to get involved or learn more or contribute to the program...Subscribe to the Spaceblimp email list

Related Links

• HacDC Spaceblimp Flickr Group
• Images from Spaceblimp 1
• Images from Spaceblimp 3

GPS visualizations of balloon trajectory from the Flickr Group (made with GPS Visualizer http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/):

Google Earth GPS trajectory visualization and Google Maps GPS trajectory visualization

HacDC Spaceblimp Project:

Main Page	Press Page	First Launch (Found)	Second Launch (Successful)
Third Launch (Successful)	Fourth Launch (Successful)	Fifth Launch (3% short of goal)	Sixth Launch (Successful)	Seventh Launch (Successful)

HacDC Spaceblimp Team Contact Info:

[email protected]

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