Summer 2004 Issue

Great Plains Super Launch 2004
In Memory of Bob Davis, KØFPC

Each summer for the past three years, a group of balloonists has
gotten together for the Great Plains Super Launch, a simultaneous
launch of at least six balloons carrying amateur radio payloads into the edge of space. Started by Paul Verhage, KD4STH, in 2001, this year’s launch was directed by WØZC. Here he tells about the trials and tribulations of simultaneously directing the 2004 super launch and trying to manage his own team, Project: Traveler, as well.


By Zack Clobes,* WØZC

High-altitude ballooning is a sport that has been growing in popularity quite rapidly over the past five to ten years. For those of you in the dark as to what this hobby is, it consists of around two dozen groups or individuals around the country and abroad who build, test, and fly an assortment of ham radio transmitters and scientific instruments to the edge of space.

By edge of space, I’m referring to the point in the Earth’s atmosphere known as the tropopause, generally considered above the jet stream. The maximum altitude for these balloons is usually in the neighborhood of 80,000 to 120,000 feet above Mean Sea Level (MSL). At this point in the sky, the curvature of the Earth is clearly visible, and because we are well above most of the gases that make up our atmosphere, the sky above is no longer blue but instead is pitch black.

At these altitudes, many of the environmental factors that affect our payloads come close to reflecting those experienced in space. Air temperatures are normally –50°C, and the air pressure begins to reflect more of a vacuum than anything we find on the surface. Our payloads are exposed to more and more radiation as we leave Earth’s protective shield.

Because of a variety of FAA regulations and costs associated with balloon flight, a typical payload weighs between 2 and 12 pounds and is made up of at least one insulated equipment box, a parachute, and a latex “weather” balloon. These weather balloons are not your typical party balloon; they weigh over 2 pounds by themselves. Most equipment box(es) have been equipped with at least one APRS system (GPS position reporting) for use as the primary tracking system. Chase teams are usually made up of at least two vehicles with radios, TNCs (terminal node controllers), and laptops, and are used to chase the capsule across the countryside for recovery.

Click here to return to Summer 2004 highlights

Click here to subscribe to VHF

_________________

© Copyright 2004, CQ Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced or republished, including posting to a website, in part or in whole, by any means, without the express written permission of the publisher, CQ Communications, Inc. Hyperlinks to this page are permitted.