Away we go!

We successfully launched a 2 kg payload in a styrofoam box using a commercial weather balloon and parachute. The payload had some science sensors (temperature and pressure) and a video camera. Balloon had a radar reflector mounted below it and reflective strips to increase visibility.

The balloon travelled generally south east about 85km from the launch site. It reached a max altitude of 39 km where it burst as planned. The balloon continued on a south east path for 12 km as it descended totalling 97km from the launch site.

Our first launch served the purpose of testing basic electronic equipment and gathering information regarding the stratosphere environment. The stratosphere has very different physical conditions compared to those that we are used to on the surface of our planet. Surrounding pressure is very low and has very high temperature contrast due to discharged air. Thus, our main goal was to analyze how the temperature and pressure varies due to change in altitude, during the ascent and descent.

From our work on the balloon 1 project we gained the technical and teamwork skills needed for our next big project, CSDC4.