DIY High-Altitude Ballooning

The Ape With No Name writes "Ever wanted to see the black of space but just can't pay a cool 20 million to do so? Well, just build your own small-scale, high-altitude balloon like these guys out of styrofoam, duct tape, electrical kit and a 'consumer-grade' weather balloon. They reached an estimated 52000 feet, had all kinds of tech issues, including hacking code to fly the mission minutes before launch. Cool pics and video were taken throughout the mission. Next flight is in approximately 2 weeks with 100,000 feet the goal."

Movie Mirrors

[Anonymous Coward]

Mirror for videos: Launch & Prep [ninwa.net] - Just Launch [ninwa.net] - Recovery [ninwa.net]

I ask that you please do not stream them. Thanks!

Another Cool Page...

[th1ckasabr1ck]

Here's a cool webpage [bordelon.net] of a group that did something similar. Their baloon made it up to about 94,000 ft. The site has a cool writeup with pictures and such of their project.

YaHABP (Yet another High Altitude Baloon Project)

[Anonymous Coward]

Still very cool. http://vpizza.org/~jmeehan/balloon/ [vpizza.org]

Re:Exciting but risky

[Anonymous Coward]

There really isn't all that much control over where a payload parachuting from 100K feet goes: it's at the mercy of the winds. Need proof? Check out where all these guys' payloads landed:

http://balloons.space.edu/habp/ [space.edu]

Re:Movie Mirrors

[amembleton]

Make them available as torrents. That would be much more usefull.

Obligatory link

[Anonymous Coward]

JP Aerospace has been doing this for years.

http://www.jpaerospace.com/ [jpaerospace.com]

Re:Umm... hazard considerations?

[Anonymous Coward]

I know the odds of an intersection are slim, but I seem to recall that the high altitude model rocket folks have to get some clearances and permission, and all that sort of thing. Your basic model rocket that you can buy at Wal Mart for $5 goes a few hundred miles per hour. Some of the larger, high altitude ones actually break the sound barrier, and are pretty much a missle without a warhead.

I think you mean: do this cheaper than Rutan

[wsanders]

Getting to a high altitude (over 35,000 feet) in a manned balloon would not be a trivial undertaking. Or else lots of people would be doing it already.

- You have to choose between popping the baloon at altitude and parachuting back, or taking a huge amount of ballast to keep you from plummeting back to earth once your balloon envelope begins to shrink alarmingly on the way back down. If you don't drop ballast, you will die.

- Above 55,000 feet or so you need a full-fledged pressurized space suit. If your suit depressurizes, you die.

- Parachuting from extremely high altitudes is difficult, tricky, and very hazardous. You can break the sound barrier in freefall. If you don't get everything right, your parachute will rip to shreds, and you will die.

That being said, I wonder if you could take a group of people up to 100,000 feet or so in a rigid, dirigible sort of thing. Heck, around the world at 50,000 feet woudl be pretty darn cool.

Still, I think Rutan's approach is probably safer.

Shameless plug

[Rorschach1]

I sell a ham radio APRS tracking kit [n1vg.net] that's been used in quite a few of these balloons (though not by this particular group, to my knowledge) for GPS tracking and telemetry. My device has built-in temperature and voltage sensors, and can switch configurations (and trigger external devices like a cut-down) based on altitude, temperature, voltage, speed, and so forth.

My standard deal is 20% off for balloons and other educational uses. I also donate freebies from time to time for good causes.

Oh, and of course, it's all Open Source. BSD license. And the firmware's recently been rehosted on SourceForge [sourceforge.net].

Re:FAA Approval for a launch?

[tigeba]

The FAA permits these types of launches provided they meet certain criteria.

http://www.eoss.org/pubs/faaball.htm [eoss.org]

Basically, total weight needs to be under 12 pounds. Most people try to keep it under 4-5. The FAA would like you to file in advance and inform them when you launch.

Re:Umm... hazard considerations?

[screwballicus]

This site [members.shaw.ca] discusses the hazards involved on this page [members.shaw.ca].

The excerpt of their short answer on the main page is as follows:

Is there any danger to aviation?

The short answer is no; there is very little risk to larger aircraft. According to an MIT study, the risk of a small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle such as this being hit by a jetliner is on the order of 1 in 1 billion per UAV flight hour. The risk to light aircraft, in a relatively busy area such as the Fraser Valley, is higher, but can be made easily below the risk light aircraft pose to each other. For the long answer, please read further.

Re:FAA Approval for a launch?

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't need approval, but you must tell the
FAA what you are up to. In particular, you
must notify them at least 6 yours in advance
of a flight.

See FAA Reg 101.37 Notice requirements.

(a) Prelaunch notice: Except [for cosmic disturbance experiments or other specified flights
requiring shorter notice], no person may operate an unmanned free balloon unless, within 6 to 24 hours before beginning the operation, he gives the following information to the FAA ATC facility that is nearest to the place of intended operation:

(1) The balloon identification.

(2) The estimated date and time of launching, amended as necessary to remain within plus or minus 30 minutes.

(3) The location of the launching site.

(4) The cruising altitude.

(5) The forecast trajectory and estimated time to cruising altitude or 60,000 feet standard pressure altitude, whichever is lower.

(6) The length and diameter of the balloon, length of the suspension device, weight of the payload, and length of the trailing antenna.

(7) The duration of flight.

(8) The forecast time and location of impact with the surface of the earth.

(b) For solar or cosmic disturbance investigations involving a critical time element, the information in paragraph (a) of this section shall be given within 30 minutes to 24 hours before beginning the operation.