CUA at the Edge of Space

Transcription

1 CUA at the Edge of Space Here is a short photo gallery of images showing the CUA balloon payload launch at Ft. Sumner New Mexico. This payload was designed, built, and flown by CUA talented undergraduate students under the guidance of Dr. Ekaterina Verner. These students had majors in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, with a few from Physics and Biology. Additional mentoring came from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center scientists and contractors. Also, local companies provided machining of critical parts of the payload. The CUA students were in the ENG 506 class during the spring 2014 Semester and a number of students continued working on the project over the past summer. A small group of students also participated in the instrument integration at NASA s Columbia Balloon Flight Facility at Palestine, TX in July. NASA launched the payload on August 24, 2014 from its facility at Ft. Sumner, NM. This project was funded through NASA grant NNX13AR61 to CUA, under NASA s Undergraduate Student Instrument Program (USIP). Dr. Verner is Principal Investigator on this project. Fig. 1: Big Bill holding the gondola of the balloon payload before it was launched on the morning of 24 Aug The CUA PADS instrument package, which weighs nearly 100 lb. (seen on the top of the gondola), is covered with black plastic to protect the optics from dust prior to flight.

2 Fig. 2: Inflating the balloon before flight. The balloon is shown being inflated in the distance. The cables and the parachute connecting the balloon to the gondola payload (Seen in the foreground) is enclosed by protective casing. This protective casing is seen extending from the payload along the desert floor to the balloon. There are cars around the base of the balloon as it is being inflated. When the balloon is fully inflated at float altitude of 124,000 ft,(23.5 miles), the volume of the balloon will be in excess of 20 million cubic feet.

3 Fig. 3: Another view of the balloon inflation process. Here, the cars are more evident. Now you can see part of the harness with the orange parachute visible.

4 Fig. 4: A view of the top of the balloon gondola shortly after launch. The CUA PADS payload, which was uncovered just prior to launch, is shown immediately to the left of the large cylindrical shaped dome. Fig. 5: The Balloon During the Ascent. Notice that the balloon appears partially inflated. As the balloon rises, and the atmospheric pressure decreases, the balloon gets bigger and more spherical.

5 Fig. 6: The Fully Inflated Balloon at 124,000 ft. The bright Sun is seen to the upper right of the balloon. Notice that the sky is totally black at this altitude.

6 Fig. 7: The CUA payload at 124,000 ft. Our payload s magnetometer is seen extending out on the 6 ft. long boom just to the left of CUA s camera as it points to the blackness of near space. The blue foam on our nearly 100 lb. payload protects the payload electronics from the extreme cold (-70 F). Fig. 8: A close-up of the CUA logo on the side of our payload.

7 Fig. 9: Looking North Along the Valley of the Rio Grande River in New Mexico. Notice the narrow tributary to the Rio Grande to the West (left) in the frame. Fig. 10: Looking Down at Clouds and Their Shadows on the New Mexico Desert from an Altitude of 124,000 ft.

8 Fig. 11 a e (see below): Five Frames Showing the Cut-down of the Payload. You will see the parachute deploy and blossom above the harness, just below the base of the balloon. The opening of the parachute is shown at different magnifications.

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10 Fig. 12: The Ground Track of the Balloon Flight. It originated from Ft. Sumner, NM and floated westward before being cut down just west of the Rio Grande River. The time of flight was over five hours.

11 A Successful Flight & Important Milestone for CUA. The students gained a truly unique educational experience, which was a triumph for CUA. This is the first time that CUA had attempted a project like this. The instrument worked flawlessly. The flight produced fabulous data, which are in the process of being reduced and analyzed. The results will be prepared for publication with the participating students as co- authors. Also, the description of what the students have accomplished, so far, will be presented at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco in December All the participating students are co- authors on this presentation as well. (The accepted abstract, including all the co- authors, for this presentation is given below.)

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