Heat, or lack of it.

  Well, I've finally made time to write my (Erik's) first post on this project, and we still have a lot of work to do! Most of our budget has been spent on a GoPro HD Hero, which will hopefully survive for future missions. We have yet to buy the parachute, balloon, and a canister of helium, but that will probably occur after we manage to properly seal our container.

  Now I haven't taken any thermodynamics courses, but I can imagine that one of the biggest challenges, (second to finding the capsule after it is launched) will be properly maintaining a good operating temperature inside the capsule. It is primarily made of styrofoam and tape. Outdoor temperatures will range from 70 to -55 degrees Fahrenheit. Our initial tests of leaving it in the freezer for an hour showed that it cannot retain heat to any degree (pun intended). My initial thought to this will be to apply some of the "Great Stuff" on the inside of the capsule, specifically on the lid where most of the heat was escaping. Additionally, black tape or some sort of glue might be used to keep the heat in.

  Another option is to add a hand warmer to our container in order to nullify the heat loss. My only problem with this is the fact that it will be right next to our camera and phone. Unfortunately, GoPro does not have any specifications regarding its camera's operating temperatures other than it "Will automatically shut off if operational temperatures exceed 125 F". That being said, we have a decent amount of work to do before we start drop testing, which one of us will keep you posted on.

  Last note: check out these cool links which show Google's involvement in the ballooning world

http://www.google.com/loon/

and

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/06/18/google-south-dakota-balloons-internet/2434811/

The Goods

GoPro

Instant Hero: Just add reckless behavior 

GoPro HD Hero 2

The centerpiece of our whole project, a GoPro HD Hero 2 will document on HD video the entire flight. The battery should last around 2 hours, which is about the same length of the flight. I will be doing a test later on to see for myself how long it lasts. I will most likely shoot in 1080p. The GoPro will be mounted on the side of the capsule, with a view of the horizon. 

Balloon

Up, Up and Away!

One of the most expensive and unfortunately disposable pieces of the project is the balloon, of which we will be buying two, as previously stated, in case one pops. If you want an idea of what it looks like, here it is on Amazon.com. Depending on the final weight of the payload, the launch diameter will be between 4 and 6 feet. The bursting diameter is about 20 feet (yeah, pretty crazy). When we fill up the balloon, we're going to have to wear latex gloves because the oils on skin can cause the balloon to degrade and burst prematurely. We have to be very cautious when handling the balloons, because they are very delicate and very expensive. 

Capsule

A fancy word for a Styrofoam box

The capsule we're going to use is a little box I found that is made of Styrofoam and has a nice lid. The box is about 6" by 5" by 4" and should hold all of the components. We'll cut an opening in the side for the camera. Then we'll affix lines to the box to connect it to the balloon, parachute, and radar reflector. The box will be painted black in order to absorb most of the sun's rays, preventing malfunction by low temperature. After that we'll put on a couple GoPro and Android stickers just because. 

Parachute

You know, so we don't kill anybody and break everything inside the capsule

We haven't quite decided where we'll get the parachute yet. We may end up making it ourselves, but I would have more trust in something we buy. If we buy one online, it could cost anywhere from $20-50 dollars, but we'd like to pay no more than $30. Interesting bit of info: the parachute will not start slowing down the capsule until it reaches a dense enough atmosphere, until which time the capsule will be in free fall. The parachute will slow the capsule down to about 15 fps (10 mph).

Recovery

If all else fails, we spend the rest of the summer trying to find it

Our main system of recovery is an Android powered LG VM670 smartphone. The smartphone will be loaded with the Where's My Droid? App that will send us gps coordinates when it receives a text with the password. A second application which will be running the entire time is an offline gps logger which will record data points throughout the entire flight from gps satellites. 

Our secondary system of recovery will most likely be a short range radio beacon or something of that sort. I am going to experiment with some different ideas like walkie talkies or build a transmitter and receiver of my own. This will be fairly cheap if I am able to build it all myself. 

Our tertiary system of recovery will possibly be some sort of timer triggered foghorn, which will hopefully alert us of its location if we have not found it before a set time. 

Our quaternary (yes, quaternary) option will be a sticker affixed to the capsule with a sign reading "IF FOUND, IMMEDIATELY CALL ***-***-****. DO NOT TOUCH OR MOVE"

Maybe I will also add "Dangerous-Radioactive". Which is indeed true, at least the radioactive part, but in such a small level it isn't considered dangerous.

Well that's all I have for you this week. In the future I will make a few posts about the science involved or something of that sort. If you have any questions, suggestions, comments, or any other type of response, don't hesitate to email us at nearspace13@gmail.com