Difference between revisions of "SSI-23"

Revision as of 02:16, 28 October 2015

SSI-23 (Gemini)

Launch date

October 24th, 2015, 11:39AM PDT

Launch site

2093 San Juan Drive, Hollister, CA

Launch coordinates

36.84842,-121.43236

Flight duration

3 hours, 20 minutes

Landing coordinates

37.08607,-119.71602

←SSI-23a

SSI Balloon Launches

SSI-24→

SSI-23 Gemini was the 23rd launch of SSI Balloons and the first launch for the inexperienced all-freshman team. It was a complete success, querying kinetic and atmospheric data, logging data, powering heaters, never using them because of internal insulation, generating current with a solar panel, capturing beautiful shots with a camera, orienting the GPS upward with a gimbal, and dropping a paper plane at a specific altitude. It flew 155.10 kilometers over a course of 3 hours and 20 minutes, landing in a University of California research facility.

Pre-Launch

SSI-23 was part of a combined 3 balloon launch with SSI-24 and SSI-25 designed to acquaint the new members of SSI with the process of designing a payload and launching a balloon. The teams started with a single week to construct the payload, but were given a two week extension after some unfortunate circumstances.

Payload Specifications

The Arduino based payload measured time, acceleration, magnetic fields, orientation, temperature, pressure, light intensity, solar panel current, solar panel voltage, and was capable self regulating its temperature with heaters and dropping a payload with a stepper motor.

Launch site

SSI-23 was launched from a park near 2093 San Juan Drive, Hollister, CA at 11:39AM. The conditions were not too sunny or windy, providing a great start as the balloons were picked up by the easterly drafts.

The Flight

SSI-23 was outfitted with a balloon with about .5 net Kg of lift. Once the rope was cut, the balloon accelerated upwards, and immediately began to spin on its horizontal axis, an unforeseen consequence of the selfie stick. Despite this, the payload never fell apart, and it successfully flew 155.10 kilometers East at 79°. It ended up in the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources experimental range, which was interesting given our choice of decorations.

Debriefing

SSI-23 was a success and fulfilled all of the initial goals set out by the team.

Milestones

Successful implementation of a gimbal for the SPOT GPS
Successful implementation of a deployment mechanism for dropping an object at a specified altitude
Successful implementation of insulation to maintain a temperature of above +3C and have all electronics still functioning on landing.

Gallery

33Km view
The team
Ground track
The Arduino electronics
The finished payload
The launch site
The decorations
SSI-24 or SSI-25
Popped balloon
Parachute deployment
The unfortunate landing area
The landing
The retrieved paylaod
Pressure as a function of time
Temperature as a function of time
Sub-payload deployment mechanism

Balloon Launches
2014-15	SSI-19 • 20 • 21 • 22
2015-16	SSI-23(a) • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31 • 32 • 33 • 34 • 35 • 36 • 37 • 38 • 39 • 40 • 41 • 42 • 43
2016-17	44 • 45 • 46 • 47 • 48 • 49 • 50 • 51 • 52
2017-18
2018-19	83 • 86 • 87 • 90 • 91
2019-20	92 • 93 • 97
V • E

@@ Line 54: / Line 54: @@
 File:SSI-23_15.jpg | <center> Pressure as a function of time </center>
 File:SSI-23_16.jpg | <center> Temperature as a function of time </center>
-File:SSI-23_03.gif | <center> Payload deployment mechanism </center>
+File:SSI-23_03.gif | <center> Sub-payload deployment mechanism </center>
 </gallery>
 {{balloon-footer}}
 [[Category: High Altitude Balloons]][[Category: Balloon Launches]]