1 / 15

The Balloon Launch “Spacecraft” and Environment

The Balloon Launch “Spacecraft” and Environment. ACES Presentation T. Gregory Guzik February 20, 2003. Conditions During Flight. Flight lasts 2 to 3 hours Max altitude 80 kft to 110 kft Max range (20 miles to infinity) Try to keep within ~40 miles range

devin-cooley
Download Presentation

The Balloon Launch “Spacecraft” and Environment

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Balloon Launch “Spacecraft” and Environment ACES Presentation T. Gregory Guzik February 20, 2003

  2. Conditions During Flight • Flight lasts 2 to 3 hours • Max altitude 80 kft to 110 kft • Max range (20 miles to infinity) • Try to keep within ~40 miles range • Gets cold at the tropopause (~ -60o C) • Any water vapor will condense out and cause frost • Good vacuum ( < 0.02 atmosphere) • Landing can be rough (shock, trees, rocks, dragging) • High velocity during initial descent (~500 mph)

  3. Cartoon of BalloonSat Train

  4. Typical Flight Profile

  5. Views of Balloon Launch Ground Perspective Balloon Perspective

  6. Balloon Burst at ~100,000 ft

  7. Payload is Returned Safely to the Ground by Parachute

  8. Temperatures During Flight External temperature Minimum of –60o C Internal temperature Minimum of –25o C

  9. PreliminaryBalloon Layout • FAA rules • Low density • Single box < 2.7 kg • Total payload < 5.4 kg • Weight estimate • Parachute 300 g • Primary beacon 734 g • Backup beacon 515 g • Cabling 122 g • Contingency 250 g • Payloads 3520 g

  10. Weight Trade Offs • Note that 3520 g / 5 = 704 g • Could support up to three payloads of 1 kg each per flight • Last two payloads require second flight • Require recovery of first flight • Require two consecutive launch days • Trade “weight coupons” between payloads • i.e. Limit all 5 payloads to 3500 g • Limit each payload to 700 g

  11. Option A: Central Telemetry • Spacecraft controls telemetry by signaling each payload in turn when it is time to transmit • Payload would return a predefined format packet to the primary beacon over RS232 bus • T#ddd,ddd,ddd,ddd,ddd,ddd,bbbbbbbb,string

  12. Option A: Trade Offs • Extra weight in spacecraft systems • Reduced weight limit on all payloads • Extra cost to develop this spacecraft service • Allocate $75 of payload budget to pay for this service • Slightly increased software complexity • Significantly increased interface complexity • No need to store everything on-board or do own telemetry system

  13. Option B: Store Onboard • No cost hit, minimize weight constraint, no interface issues • Store in EERAM • No addition components needed • Lifetime of EERAM limited • Major problems if the code is wrong • Store in auxiliary memory chip • Avoid EERAM problems • Significantly increased storage • Increased software complexity • Payload recovery required

  14. Option C: Payload Telemetry • Would need to use 5 W HAM radio • 0.5 W FRS radio insufficient for balloons • Would need two radios at $300 each • Increased payload weight • ~170 g for radio, 150 – 200 g for extra battery • Would need ground station • Spacecraft ground station channels are used by beacons

  15. Charge to IWG • Meet now in room 331 for 30 to 45 minutes and bring back decisions on the following issues. • How to handle the payload weight issue. • How to handle to data storage / telemetry issue.

More Related