Rockettes Final Flight Presentation Amanda Marcott, Cait Mantych, Amy Paul and Jessie Pohl Spaceflight and Ballooning AEM 1905 November 20, 2008.

Mission Overview Weather Station to help with the study of the ideal gas law HOBO as a backup thermometer Flight Computer to record data Seeds- long term experiment about radiation Camera to record the progression of blackness of the sky

Ideal Gas Law PV= nRT P= pressure – weather station V= volume- camera with pictures of balloon n= moles R= universal gas constant T= absolute temperature – weather station and HOBO

Design Overview Heater, computer, HOBO, seeds, mirrors and weather station connected to computer. Camera is set to take pictures every 30 seconds, approx 33 seconds with lag time Flight Computer took temperature and pressure data from our weather station every 5 minutes Hobo took temperature data every 7 seconds Final Cost: $ Final Weight: 2.9 lbs

Expected Science Results Ideal Gas Law- Expected difficulty in figuring out balloon volume however we feel confident in our weather station and expect accurate results from it. Camera/Blackness of Space- With a grayscale attached to the mirror edge that we can compare black and white prints of our photographs to, we believe that after considerable observations, we will be able to see a distinct progression of the blackness of space. IMPORTANT POST FLIGHT NOTE: We are not at this time researching our radiation-exposed seeds or the blackness of space. During the entire flight, we did get quality photographs that show the blackness progression and views above and below from our mirror apparatus. However, some of the other payload boxes from other groups did not function as planned and those groups are using our photograph data for the progression of the blackness of space instead; we are only pursuing results for our ideal gas law experiment.

Battery Pack Heater Flight Computer Weather Station Camera Switch Plate Hobo External Temperature Sensor Balloon Temperature Sensor

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Results of Testing Switch plate- rewiring Flight computer- soldering Heater- rewiring Pressure Test- good Temperature Test- unsure of test results Meeting final deadline

Flight Day No visible damage postflight Inside of box was slightly cold, but not frosted. All mechanisms were still working and intact, with the exception of the heater and thermometer Heater’s batteries may have died HOBO thermometer in the balloon was ripped off during burst

A Few Flight Photos…

INNER BALLOON PRESSURE (GROUND LEVEL)

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Summary of Experiments 39 The Ideal Gas Law represents the relationship between the pressure, temperature, and volume of a gas.

Changes Weather station placement!!! Payload material Add insulation Better constructed and planned mirror

Add Flower seeds More or bigger mirror contraption Fly payload lower on the series to see more of the balloon for longer

Rockettes’ Words of Wisdom Hot glue, true to it’s name, is very hot.

Utility knives are essential.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help, better safe than sorry. AH! Help!!!!

When someone looks disinterested, more than likely, they are not interested.

NOSE ALWAYS GOES! (unless you earn exemptions)

Thanks! Dr. Flaten Mentors BBBBC for the video MN Space Grant