Lindsey Buxman Nathan Buzzell Chris Davidoff Cody Gondek Jacob Hermann Jared Levin Peter Merrick Maggie Williams October 18, 2012

 Our objective is to calculate the speed of sound at an altitude of 30km  We hypothesize that the speed of sound will decrease as the temperature and pressure decrease  To gather empirical data and compare that to the given theoretical models.  Learn about properties of Earth’s atmosphere

 Construct a BalloonSat that will travel to an altitude of 30km and return our payload safely to Earth.  Calculate speed of sound as the balloonSat reaches max altitude.  Record information on environmental conditions  A Canon SD780 IS 18x55x88mm and 130 grams will be used to take pictures of Earth and/or the Sun.  All extra parts will be listed in our budget item list.  A U.S. Flag and team information will be placed on the outside of the BalloonSat so if lost it may be retrieved.

 Structure includes two separate boxes attached by carbon fiber tubes 2m long  Transmitter from top box will send out signal to lower box to start the stopwatch, which also triggers the speaker to send out a tone at frequency 1000 HZ, stopwatch will stop when the sound is received by the microphone on at the top box.

 Most parts should be delivered within one to two weeks.  All parts have been ordered.

 Test Plan  Drop  Dry Ice  Whip  Subsystems  Camera

 Will take data with satellite on the ground in order to verify that our system can identify the accepted speed of sound  Hope to have a better understanding of the near space environment  Expect the speed of sound to decrease as the temperature and pressure decreases, and then increase as the temperature does

Maggie Williams Team Leader Scheduling Manager Maggie Williams Team Leader Scheduling Manager Lindsey Buxman Science Researcher Editor Lindsey Buxman Science Researcher Editor Nathan Buzzel Structural Engineer Soldering Lead Nathan Buzzel Structural Engineer Soldering Lead Jared Levin Science Lead Cinematographer Jared Levin Science Lead Cinematographer Cody Gondek Electrical Engineer Testing Manager Cody Gondek Electrical Engineer Testing Manager Chris Davidoff Arduino Programmer Electrical Engineer Chris Davidoff Arduino Programmer Electrical Engineer Peter Merrick Arduino Programmer Diagram Manager Peter Merrick Arduino Programmer Diagram Manager Jacob Hermann Financial Officer Data Analyst Jacob Hermann Financial Officer Data Analyst

 Wind Noise  Weight  RF Transmitter signal will be corrupted by miscellaneous radio frequencies before it gets to the top box  Miscellaneous radio frequencies will cause false reactions