Rockoons Long Duration Flight

1. RockoonsLong Duration Flight

2. SL1 Rocket and Avionics Sky Launch 1 Rocket and Avionics

3. Rockoon Mission

4. Rockoon Flight Profile

5. Mobile rocket motor test stand

6. Nitrous Oxide/rubber Hybrid Motor 1500 lbf Thrust Test

7. Balloon Testing High Altitude Subsystem Testing Telemetry and command/control link testing with latex balloons Zero pressure plastic balloon tests of igniter electronics and nitrous tank

8. Rocket ground test Ground Launch of Hybrid Rocket Rocket ascended to over 20,000 feet

9. SL1 Launch Launch of Sky Launch 1 Rockoon Rocket ascended to over 30 nautical miles

10. Launched from the North Carolina Shoreline Rocket ignited at 70k plus feet while 120 miles out to sea

11. SL1 rocket Rockoon Rocket That Made Guinness Book of World Records Apogee: 36 miles; 14 miles short of our goal. Record stood for 7 years until broken by CSXT rocket in 2004.

12. SL2 on deck Moving up to larger Sky Launch 2 • 100 miles from shore in the Gulf of Mexico • Sea-launch, like those pioneered by Dr. Van Allen • Sea launch greatly reduces risk and liability concerns • NASA provided use of ocean-going barge for our first test • Ability to reel the balloon straight up vertically out of the box • Minimal boat deck area required for medium to large sized balloons • Boat speed completely cancelled out surface wind

13. BLRV Rocket Glider

14. Oil PlatformUtility Boat

15. BLRVGround Stationon Boat Deck

16. BLRV Launch

17. CATS Prize The Cheap Access To Space (CATS) Competition was established in 1997. Goal: First non-governmental rocket to put 2 kg to an apogee of 200 km by November 8, 2000. Our CATS rocket was launched 200 miles out to sea off the Florida coast on October 29, 2000.

18. CATS Rockoon Command, Telemetry and Video Downlink Modules

19. CATS Rockoon200 miles from shore – 14 foot rocket, 400 pound gondola

20. Rockoon gondola leaves the deck

21. CATS Rocket on it’s way • Rocket launched from 75k ft • Additional Advantages of Boat Launched balloons: • Hazardous Payloads can be flown that would be difficult to fly over land. • Greatly increased launch windows due to surface wind cancellation • Ability to fly from remote locations without need of land-based ground support

22. Boat launches also help prevent theseground-based launch and recovery issues

23. Come on up, the view is great! • 100,000 feet high, 400 miles to the horizon

24. Coverage area of a balloonPropagation map prior to liftoff

25. Coverage of balloon at 90,000 ftKB9ZNZ-11 Taylor IN

26. Coverage area of a balloonDigipeater Reception List – (K5IS-11 Texas balloon)

27. Long Duration Balloons • Polyethylene Zero Pressure • If vented, can stay aloft at float altitude for several days with ballast drop each night • Expensive to buy • - Difficult to make

28. Long Duration Balloons • Cylinder Balloon (helium or hydrogen filled) • Vent at bottom, can stay aloft several days with ballast drop each night • Relatively easy to make with a heat sealer WB8ELK launch of ES-OS cylinder balloon built by NG0X

29. Solar Balloons– only Hot Air(one day flight) • Can be assembled with Scotch Tape • - Inflated with a fan • Sun does the rest • Can stay at float altitude all day long until sunset • Tetroon only takes 3 seams and approximates a sphere KC8UCH http://mail.gpacademy.org/~rochter/ Solar Tetroon and Cylinder http://www.solar-balloons.com

30. Long Duration floater flights • LATEX Floaters • Vent valve in balloon neck • Ballast drop • - Several hours to 20+ hrs • UV degradation of latex will limit time aloft when sunlit • Low-tech idea proven out by Dr. Jean Laby: • ( tie string to top of balloon to lift ping-pong style valve in balloon neck)

31. Long Duration floater flights • No vent valve • No ballast • 20 plus hour flights • Standard latex balloons • Low free lift • Released a few hours before sunset • Ascent stops at balloon sunset • HiBall Launch Video

32. Solar Irradiance vs. Ascent Rate

33. Ascent Stops at Sunset

34. Launched from Huntsville, AL1400 miles downrange in 20 hours Green = Daytime portion Violet = Nighttime portion

35. Long Duration floater flights Using READY HYSPLIT to predict flight paths for multi-day missions - Registration required by FAXing in request on your group’s letterhead - Once registered, can do long range forecasts at various float altitudes - Can run archived data without registration

36. Long Duration floater flights JANUARY Flight Paths (72 hours aloft) Float altitudes: Red – 45,000 feet Blue – 60,000 feet Green – 75,000 feet

37. Long Duration floater flights MARCH Flight Paths (72 hours aloft) Float altitudes: Red – 45,000 feet Blue – 60,000 feet Green – 75,000 feet

38. Long Duration floater flights JULY Flight Paths (72 hours aloft) Float altitudes: Red – 45,000 feet Blue – 60,000 feet Green – 75,000 feet

39. Long Duration floater flights OCTOBER Flight Paths (72 hours aloft) Float altitudes: Red – 45,000 feet Blue – 60,000 feet Green – 75,000 feet

40. Long Duration floater flights NOVEMBER Flight Paths (72 hours aloft) Float altitudes: Red – 45,000 feet Blue – 60,000 feet Green – 75,000 feet

41. 20th Anniversary of ARHAB(Amateur Radio High Altitude Ballooning) August 11, 2007 Findlay, Ohio Multiple Launches http://www.wb8elk.com Great Plains Superlaunch Conference and Launch Grand Island, NE July 6-8, 2007 Conference and Multiple launch http://www.superlaunch.org

42. The Future of Balloon Technology? Launch Video http://www.wb8elk.com