Junk in a Box Final Presentation Frank Becky, Kyle Cummings, Jordan Haines, Villiam Klein, Matt Peoples, Ryan Scott and Aaron Young 4 December 2007

Mission Overview  Objectives  Prove possibility of capturing images of stars on a CCD camera during the day  Stabilize the CCD camera during the flight  Measure g-forces experienced by BalloonSAT  Expected Discoveries  Discover the minimum altitude stars become visible to a CCD camera during the day  Discover if the stabilization platform stabilizes the CCD camera  Flight Summary  Failure of CCD camera after thirty-two minutes  HOBO stopped recording before balloon burst  Maintained internal temperature above zero °C for 50 min  Collected 3 hrs and 40 min of accelerometer data  Semi-stabilization of CCD camera

Request for Proposal Compliance  Our mission objectives remained the same  Attempted to see stars during the day  Attempted to stabilize the CCD camera  Attempted to collect g-force data  CCD camera stabilization system changed  Design of BalloonSAT changed  Number of accelerometers changed  Mass was 26 grams over budget  Stayed under cost budget

Differences between proposal and final design  Original proposal involved two different types of stabilization (rotational and tilt)  Due to mass issues, only tilt was addressed  Magnet and 360° viewing window  Size was reduced due to mass and heat  Original design failed heat test after 40 minutes

Mass and Cost Summary ItemCost Glue, tape and binding material$25.00 Structure$25.00 Batteries$30.00 CCD CameraFree AccelerometerFree Silicon PacksFree CCD Camera RecorderFree Total$80.00 ComponentWeight (grams) Foam Core Volt battery (3) volt Battery for CCD camera (6)43.20 CCD Camera96.00 CCD Camera Recorder HOBO15.20 CCD Camera stabilization platform21.00 Platform counter balance16.00 Washers, tube and paperclips35.00 Heater Circuit24.20 Accelerometer and Logomatic22.00 Plexiglass and support Silicon Packs (3) & Insulation85.00 Milar, tape and hot glue67.30 Total826.00

Accelerometer Flight Results  samples, 3.6 recorded hours of data  Graphs clearly show launch, ascent, burst, and landing  Maximum and Minimum G-forces AxisMinimum number of GsMaximum number of Gs x-axis y-axis z-axis

Accelerometer Data - Launch

Accelerometer Data - Balloon Burst

Accelerometer Data - Landing

Reasons for failure  Accelerometer and logomatic tested post flight, both worked  Second accelerometer failed because in got unplugged

Accelerometer Orientation inside the BalloonSat

Description of Accelerometer Outputs

Accelerometer Comparison Data  Stabilization system worked intermittently  Obtained 19.4 seconds of data from both accelerometers  Data most likely acquired from ground or post flight transit

Accelerometer Comparison Graph

HOBO data  We have 2.5 hours of data (it was programmed for that duration)  Weren’t prepared for long duration flight  Temp. reached -5°C inside, -55°C outside  We weren’t prepared for sudden cold temperature  But successfully got temperature back up to 10°C

HOBO Temp. Graph

Camera Results  CCD Camera failed  Too bright at takeoff to record pictures  The sudden temp. drop ruined the output voltage for our batteries, so camera failed

CCD photo at launch

CCD photo taken 32 min. into flight

CCD photo taken 1 hour into flight

Conclusions  Desired outcomes from mission objectives failed  Through analysis of the lack of data, we were able to determine why these failures occurred  This information will be useful when passed on to future classes and missions  This was a great learning experience for team Junk in a Box

Lessons learned  Set your HOBO to record data for longer than the estimated flight time  Make sure everything, from components to connections, are secure and incapable of moving  Test, test, and test!  Keep communication lines open between team members

Ready to fly again  How problems were fixed  Increased amount of internal foam core  Relocate heaters to protect CCD batteries  Gluing of accelerometer connections  Increased pre-programmed HOBO recording time  How the payload should be stored  In a dry place at room temperature  Handled with care and not thrashed around  How to activate the payload  (from left to right as the BalloonSAT is upright)  flip the first switch, then the third and finally the second

Message to next semester Don’t worry about the grades that you get in the beginning, but don’t throw them aside either. You WILL have to learn from what you did wrong and improve upon it for the next time. Although this class tends to have rather independent work, you still need to get approval. Thus, you will greatly benefit from elaborately detailing everything, especially when you need to convince the professor. There is also no limit to the amount of pre-flight testing that a team can do. In fact, the more testing you do the better it will be for your team, pre-flight and post-flight. What worked-  Meetings held at least once a week in which the team discussed our progress and plans for building and testing the BalloonSAT.  Having fun and entertaining ourselves throughout the process helped us to alleviate the stress and tension that built up from the demanding work. What didn’t work-  Communication. ing back and forth took too long. What we would have done differently-  Organizing team members into groups and having the groups meet more often instead of the whole team.  Making sure that more team members assisted others in tasks so that one person did not end up doing an entire project.