galaSAT Project Using HAB in the classroom

galaSAT THREE has been our third flight. Due to problems beyond our control, the launch took place on May 13, at 2:15 a.m. However, It has been a great learning experience and an opportunity to grow. galaSAT THREE reached the bursting point (25584 meters) at 03:33 am, while some members were sleeping :). After a few hours to rest, we began the recovery at 7:30 am and twelve hours later we were back at home.

Next launch will take place in May this year 2017. A renewed human team is going to face a new challenge: galaSAT THREE. The team is composed of nineteen people (four girls and fifteen boys linked in a common purpose).

There are several goals we would like to achieve on this new misión: reach more than 100.000 feet above sea level; set up a pressure sensor to check out how air pressure changes at different altitudes; design and make up a DIY parachute to get a safety return.

galaSAT TWO is the second flight with the goal of testing new electronic equipment. Last 3rd June galaSAT TWO reached the bursting point (16136 meters) at 11:56 am, while we are driving toward the landing site.

A new human team is going to face up to a new challenge: galaSAT TWO. A team made up of 21 students from two different grades. This time, the human team is composed of 9 girls and 12 boys who are working together.

There are some goals we want to achieve on this second misión: reach more than 27.602 meters at bursting point; set up a pressure sensor to check out how air pressure changes at different altitudes; set up an ultraviolet light sensor to prove how UV light changes at different altitudes; implement a top camera which allows us to record the bursting point and know how the parachute works during descent.

Thanks to our workmate Anibal de la Torre, we have taken part in STEMooc to show how our project permit us to develop Education Technology Standards for Students: analyze data, plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project, process data and report results, communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats, use models and simulations to explore complex systems, contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems…

Thanks to information from APRS tracker we can compare and validate the predicted flight models vs the real flight. As we can see in the image below, CSUF predictor has been more accurate than ASTRA predictor. The straight line distance from CSUF Landing point to Real Landing Point was 3.33 Kilometers. On the contrary, the predicted flight model by ASTRA shows an enormous difference (17.38 Kilometers)

Galasat ONE began to ascend at 11:50 h and 86 minutes later the high altitude balloon burst reaching an altitude of 27.602 meters. The maximum temperature during that time was -36’5° C. During 19 minutes the payload was on free falling and our device logged a maximum temperature of -53° C at 13:22 h.

The mission GalaSat ONE took place yesterday October 23 at 11:50 am from Palma del Rio, Cordoba. Due to westerly winds aloft, our balloon travelled 66’93 km east to a large hunting farm on an elevated position with breathtaking views of San Rafael de Navallana’s dam where it was recovered at 17:30 pm.

This first photo above shows the remains of our high altitude balloon just after it burst far above the city of Cordoba in the south of Spain. The bursting point was reached at 27.602 meters where it is possible to see the curvature of the earth. Apart from that, this picture shows us the thin blue line. Note that since there are too few air molecules at altitudes above about 18.300 m to effectively scatter sunlight, the sky appears essentially black.

Our balloon and payload ascended into the sky at a rate of 5’33 m/s. All such high altitude balloons burst when the atmospheric air pressure is too low to contain the expanding volume of the gas within the balloon. After bursting, the payload descended back to earth at an average rate of 24’16 m/s. Our balloon’s capsule was retrieved intact and will be re-used for a future launch.

Predicting your balloon’s flight path is a requirement in Spain and the results must be provided to ENAIRE before launch. Fortunately, there are many easy-to-use online calculators that can estimate your path.

The most popular online flight prediction tool is the Cambridge University Spaceflight Landing Predictor (CUSF). Given a few parameters this site spit out a predicted flight trajectory overlaid on a 2D interactive map, which can be exported in KML (Keyhole Markup Language) format and loaded into Google Earth, giving you the ability to dynamically navigate your entire flight path at every altitude over a detailed 3D representation of the planet.

Four hours before, here you are our flight prediction.

After two previous cancelled flights, today we have received an email from ENAIRE and finally we have got our weather balloon flight permission. Everything is almost ready for Launch Day.