JustinHamel.com

Project goal:
To launch a weather balloon that lifts our payload to 100,000 feet, and recover the payload safely back on earth.

The inspiration:
I was inspired recently by an article about two MIT students who launched a weather balloon carrying a digital camera and a cellphone with GPS tracking capabilities. That article can be found here.

The plan:
We are going to launch our payload into near space using a weather balloon. Our payload container will house a digital camera and a dedicated GPS tracking device.

Once the balloon reaches ~100,000 feet, the balloon will burst and the payload will start to fall towards earth. A parachute will automatically deploy and deliver the payload safely back to earth.

The payload will be launched in 2-3  weeks (Oct. 3, 09 through Oct. 10, 09) depending on how everything comes together.

The inventory:
600 gram balloon – http://www.kaymont.com/pages/sounding-balloons.cfm
Parachute – http://www.the-rocketman.com/recovery.html
Payload container – http://www.mrboxonline.com/8x6x425-small-foam-coolers-p-675.html
GPS tracking unit – http://findmespot.com/en/index.php
Canon A470 digital camera – http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/A470
Camera polarizing filter – Free from our sponsor
Radar reflector – http://www.westmarine.com
Strobe light – not purchased yet
Helium and gas bottle – Airgas – http://www.airgas.com

Adding a beeper or siren might also aid in recovering the payload more easily. (Did not do.)

We might use a gyroscope to help stabilize our payload container during flight. (Decided against this for our first flight.)

Tools and resources:
Balloon Math – http://balloon.pbworks.com/BalloonMath
Balloon Flight Planner – http://nearspaceventures.com/w3Baltrak/readyget.pl
Ascent Rate Calculator – http://nearspaceventures.com/cgi-bin/ascent.pl
Aviation laws concerning balloons – http://www.eoss.org/pubs/far_annotated.htm

I have also read several personal accounts online which have been enlightening.
“GPS Telemetry” – http://www.thefintels.com/aer/gpstelemetry.htm
“High Altitude Balloon Project” – http://www.thefintels.com/aer/hab.htm
“High Altitude LEGO Extravaganza” – http://www.unr.edu/nevadasat/balloonsats/missions/HALE/
“Balloon FAQ” – http://www.eoss.org/pubs/faqloon.htm <—- Seems to be the Bible of ballooning

How high is 100,000 ft?

Updates:
9/22 – We have decided to use helium instead of hydrogen for our first launch. Helium is twice the price, but hydrogen is explosive.
9/23 – Our parachute arrived today. I am very excited. This thing is solid.
9/27 – We built a hot wire for shaping styrofoam pieces to fit into our payload container. These styrofoam pieces will not only act as the internal support structure, but they will also help insulate from the cold.
10/8 – The balloon has come in the mail from Kaymont
10/8 – Got helium bottle and 200 cu. ft. of helium thanks to Jeff Smith at Airgas.
10/8 – Programmed the Canon Powershot A470 digital camera with CHDK so that the digital camera will take a picture every few seconds.
10/8 – Launch Date is 10/10/09 @ 8 am. Launch location is Gearhart, Oregon. Landing zone is in the McMinnville area. Specific address coming soon.

• If you are interested in attending/helping with the launch or recovery, please email justin@justinhamel.com
• If you want to track the balloon’s progress below 21,000 ft on the morning of Oct. 10, please visit (link no longer available)

This is the predicted trajectory for our balloon and payload to travel.

A little belated post, but Chris and I are back from our motorcycle trip.

We had the time of our lives navigating the roads that connect 6 states. We recorded the entire journey using a $200 video cam. Hopefully, I will be able to put up a video at some future point. There is about 80 hours of footage to wrangle down to a nice, pleasant video for your viewing pleasure.

Here’s the map:

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