Shot 6710 from Mayberry Galactic Flight #1 June 5th, 2015

Here is one of my favorite shots from our Mayberry Galactic Flight on June 5th.  The altitude is estimated to be 103,000 feet.  It appears as if the flight is above an ocean with all the blue below. Not so.  Just as we see blue skies when looking up into the atmosphere, we also see the blue of the atmosphere when looking down from a high altitude.  In reality, below are the farm fields of western Minnesota -- mostly corn standing a few inches tall. You might also note the deep blue boundary at the horizon.  This is the troposphere, the first six miles of the atmosphere where all of the Earth's weather occurs. From 20 miles up, the band appears thin.

Company "World View Experience" Plans to Offer Rides to Near Space

A fascinating Popular Science article describes how a company called "World View Experience" plans to tap into the space tourism market by offering rides to into near space just months from now -- in the far 2017 -- for a fee of $75,000. The PopSci article is linked here.

Illustration by World View Experience

In Flight Images of Balloon Trains from GPSL 2015

 

During the gathering of balloon enthusiasts at the Great Plan Super Launch on June 18-19 near St. Louis, MO, five balloons were launch in parallel. Here are eight images caught by a point-and-shoot Canon camera hosted in the payload Thelma Lou II on one of the balloon trains.  Most of the images are blurry, but still interesting to see.  Click on any image to enlarge for better viewing.  One of the shots has TWO balloons in the image.

 

High Altitude Picture of KD4STH-4 Over St. Louis, Missouri

This rare high-altitude picture of a weather balloon (KD4STH-8) taken at 52,300 feet on June 20th, 2015. The location is St. Paul, MO - near St. Louis, Missouri. The image was taken by a Canon A1100 point-and-shot camera on Thelma Lou II. The balloon in the image has expanded to about 19' in diameter - estimated by the known length of parachute. Notice how the top of the balloon is thinning to a point of being clear -  the balloon is about 10 to 15 minutes from bursting.

Links to Mayberry Galactic Flight #1 Videos on YouTube

It is so fun to realize that our little 11"x10"x7" payload - "Thelma Lou" - made it to 109,000 feet above sea level with our two cameras capturing the ride.  The first camera -- a Canon A1100 point-and-shoot - was loaded with Canon Hacker Development Kit firmware so it would automatically take a picture once every 4 seconds. Our two hour flight had some 2,600 multi-megapixal images on a 64GB SD card.  They have been stitched together into a jumping video with some up-beat music that is fun to watch: Mayberry Galactic Flight #1 Time-Lapse Video from Canon A1100 Camera.

Our second camera was a GoPro recording in High Definition.  This shows the flight in real-time - but edited to fit into a 4 minute video and some appropriate music. Unfortunately, the GoPro did not capture any of the descent - as the memory card became full.  But the you can see nearly the entire ascent to 109,000 feet.  Enjoy by clicking on this link: Mayberry Galactic Flight #1 GoPro High Definition Video

Mayberry Galactic Flight #1 - Apogee of 109,000 Feet

SPOT Trace – A Good Secondary Flight Beaconing System

SPOT LLC www.findmespot.com offers a relatively new tracking product called the “SPOT Trace.”  It is smaller, lighter, and less expensive tracking device than SPOT’s popular “Gen 3” unit.  The Gen 3 – and its predecessors, the SPOT 2 and SPOT 1  – has been frequently used solutions for balloon flight tracking.  However, the company’s newer Trace unit may become the new preferred SPOT product choice for balloonists.  The Trace sends GPS coordinate data just like the original SPOTs, but the product is simplified with elimination of emergency call and messaging functionality -- features totally unnecessary for balloon flight.  The Trace offers a lower up-front cost and lower annual subscription cost than the Gen 3.

Interestingly, the Trace is promoted by SPOT LLC as a theft recovery tool – allowing owners of motorcycles, boats, or other mobile assets to share the location of stolen property with law enforcement. But frankly, the product appears to have some severe limitations for this purpose as the satellite communications link depends on a fully unobstructed view of the sky. A stolen motorcycle simply parked under the canopy of trees will have tracking signals blocked. But for the purpose of balloon flight tracking the Trace unit – like the original SPOT – works well as the sky is in full view.

It is important to understand that both the Trace and the original SPOT products will stop communicating above approximately 21,000 feet.  As most balloon flights are planned to climb above 80,000 feet, a large portion of the flight path will not be reported. This is why SPOT products should be considered back-up location reporting systems.  A separate radio-based system, such as an APRS beacon, should be designed as the primary flight path reporting system – providing latitude, longitude, and altitude data for the entire flight.

The SPOT Trace can have a big benefit over a radio-based location system at the end of flight - touchdown. Once the payload is on the ground, radio-based beaconing (e.g., APRS) will very likely no longer have a line-of-sight to transmit landing location to receiving stations. The APRS radio is too low to hit any receiving antennas. But the Trace unit is communicating via satellites, and so the landing location of the payload on the ground can still be sent – assuming the Trace is facing up and has an unobstructed view of the sky*. 

The following table shows a comparison of the SPOT Trace and SPOT Gen 3. 

	SPOT Trace	SPOT Gen 3	Trace Advantage
Product Cost	$99.99 + tax	$149.99	$50 Less
Annual Subscription Cost	$99.99 + tax	$149.99	$50 Less
Longitude, Latitude	YES	YES
Altitude	NO	NO
Weight with Batteries	90 grams	114 grams	24 grams
Size	2.69” x 2.02” x 0.95”	3.43” x 2.56” x 1”	Smaller
Primary Color	Black	Orange	Black absorbs more heat
Power Source	4 AAA Lithium	4 AAA Lithium
Max Altitude		21,320 feet
Max Reporting Frequency	5 minutes**	5 minutes**
Operating Temperature	-22F to +140F	-22F to +140F
Unnecessary Communication Functions	NO	YES	Simpler Design

** For an extra fee, the reporting frequency can be increased to once every 2 ½ minutes. 

Here is a map show some of the early (non-flight) testing location reporting by the Trace unit using a SPOT App:

*One method to greatly increase the odds of the Trace facing up is to place it inside a gimbal – a 3-axis device – that allows gravity to keep proper orientation.