Balloon Payload Program

1. Balloon Payload Program Brianna Brassard College Park Scholars – Science & Global Change Program Aerospace Engineering Briannabrassard@gmail.com College Park Scholars Academic Showcase, May 4, 2012 Introduction The Balloon Payload Program at the University of Maryland is a small research group that develops and tests balloon projects, which are then lofted on a large weather balloon that flies to about 85,000 feet before bursting. Currently a few projects are in the works, such as building a payload that could eventually be used in Antarctic flights that would allow information to be dropped from a payload every revolution around the Earth, which in the end would eliminated the need to track the payloads with radio signals. A big part of the program is leading a team of first-semester aerospace engineering freshman to help them develop payloads in small groups that take pictures of the earth’s atmosphere and also test different atmospheric conditions. Freshman Payloads (and Morgan State University): I got started with working in this lab through the freshman payloads, when I was in the Introduction to Aerospace Profession class. In a small group I helped create a payload that could take pictures as it ascended into the atmosphere and also test the humidity conditions in the atmosphere. The lab leads weekly workshops to help direct and guide the students into programming and soldering the electronics and constructing boxes with enough insulation and protection. The purpose of the freshman program is to help freshman gain an interest in on-campus research and show students if they are truly interested in aerospace engineering. The lab also works with Hagerstown Community College and Morgan State University by helping their Balloon Payload Program. We give them supplies and guidance to help construct their own payloads, which we then help them launch. The weather balloon and payloads about to be launched. Robot Hearts Stories: Part of the Balloon Payload Program is educational outreach. Freshman payloads is just one example, but recently I am leading a new project that is in cooperation with the larger organization called Robot Hearts Stories. The organization works with children who are from impoverish areas and is based on a stuffed animal robot named Laika, named after the first animal in orbit. There is a whole story of how Laika crash landed on Earth and needs to get back to her home planet, so students write stories and create projects involving helping Laika have a safe return home. The purpose of the program is to help inspire children to be interested in technology and writing, as they have very little resources and access to technology. Currently we are working on created a payload that holds the stuffed animal on the top and has a camera looking back on the payload to take pictures of the stuffed animal at 90,000 ft, making it look like Laika is in space on his way home. Above: View of Potomac River from weather balloon. Left: Earth’s curvature seen from about 85,000 feet. Left: Cutting the fabric to sew a bag. Right: View of Western Maryland farmland Launching And Recovery For any balloon launching, there is a specific procedure that is followed in order to make the launching run smoothly. There is a lot of work to do before the launches though, such as constructing foam boxes to hold and protect the electronics from the harsh impact they encounter upon landing and in flight. I also had to sew a bag that held the payload’s command module. Careful consideration must be used when constructing and sewing any part of the payload because it experiences tremendous stresses as it swings and twirls wildly as it’s in the air. We need to make sure that the parts will not fall apart and come back exactly as they were released. On the day of launch, everyone has specific jobs assigned to make sure we do not skip critical steps. Once the balloon is released, we immediately get in the car and start tracking where the payloads are located. There is a GPS and sometimes radios on the balloon, which we use to track and recover the balloon. It is usually in flight for about two and a half hours, reaching about 85,000 feet. The trajectory and landing area is different with each launch, sometimes landing along the Potomac River in Maryland, but occasionally it goes north to areas of Southern Pennsylvania. Geigercounter: Recently the project that I have been working on the most is creating a geigercounter with one other undergraduate student, which is going to be used to detect the radiation particles within the Earth’s atmosphere. For this project I used a software called Eagle, and am creating a wiring schematic, making sure the voltage and current will not overheat and fry the circuit. Once I am done creating the circuit in Eagle, I will then solder and put together a physical version of the wiring schematic that will be sent up on a balloon launch this summer. Part of Geigercounter Schematic Acknowledgments: I would like to thank Dr. Holtz and Dr. Merck and everything they did to make the Science and Global Change Program a wonderful experience. I would also like to thank my site supervisor, Dr. Mary Bowden, Connie Ciarleglio, and the rest of the Balloon Payload Program team at Maryland.