HacDC Spaceblimp 5
From HacDC Wiki
Spaceblimp-5 Planned Launch: July 9, 2011
Summary
HacDC Spaceblimp 5 is set up for launch on Saturday morning 10am, nominal.
This time we're going for altitude. By using a larger balloon, hopefully it will burst at a higher altitude, 120k feet predicted.
The payload includes a video camera, a still camera running custom firmware to hopefully get better exposures from space, and a lot of instrumentation: (list here)
Come join us for the launch, at ____.
Or follow along at home! There are two radios on board the blimp that transmit out the GPS data.
The primary is tied to the GPS and transmits out to a network of amateur radio people who then pass the location information on to get mapped here: APRS.fi and run through some custom software to a Twitter account which you can follow on your phone: DC Spaceblimp Primary Twitter Feed. (Click the link in the Twitter to pull up a map!)
The secondary radio is actually a modified cell phone, and will broadcast its data when in range of a cell tower. You can follow that Twitter feed through Society Of Robots Twitter Feed.
Launch Plans
| Planned launch date: | Saturday, July 9, 2011 |
|---|---|
| Launch time: | 10:00 AM, Launch should take less than an hour. |
| Launch Location: |
|
| Coordination/Talk-in: | 146.685 MHz simplex (this might change, please monitor Twitter (@HacDCSpaceblimp) and mailing list for updates. |
| Planned Altitude: | 120,000 Feet |
| Planned Ascent Rate: | 1,000 feet/minute |
| Planned Descent Rate: | 1,000 feet/minute |
| Primary Beacon: | Son-of-WhereAVR with ublox GPS. Yaesu VX-1 handi-talkie with 1 W Transmitter, call sign W3HAC-11 (map), Frequency 144.390 MHz |
| Secondary Beacon: | GSM mobile phone modue, uBlox GPS |
| Payload: | 9 DOF IMU, Geiger counter, temperature, pressure, humidity, and light sensors |
| [email protected] |
| Subscribe to the Spaceblimp email list |