CNNSP-09
September 2, 2007
Walnut Middle
School
Grand
Island, NE
|
CNNSP-09
|
|
Flight Summary
|
|
Launch Date:
|
2-Sep-07
|
|
|
Launch Time:
|
14:01
|
zulu
|
|
Launch Location:
|
Grand Island, NE
|
|
Maximum Altitude:
|
96,949
|
feet
|
|
Maximum Speed:
|
48
|
mph
|
|
Average Speed:
|
12
|
mph
|
|
Average Ascent Rate:
|
1239
|
ft/min
|
|
Average Descent Rate:
|
4834
|
ft/min
|
|
Flight Duration:
|
2:17
|
hh:mm
|
|
Distance (Great Circle):
|
2.13
|
miles
|
There are days when you should just stay in bed. This would
have been one of them. My last minute decision to move the launch site back to Walnut
Middle School from Doniphan,
NE was not the smartest thing I've ever
done. I was concerned because the predicted landing was very close to
Interstate 80 from the Doniphan launch site. I figured launching from Grand
Island would take care of that, and it did.
We had a great turn out for the launch. I'm always excited
when we have more people interested in the hobby. I finally got to meet Chris
AC0DN from Columbus, NE
(about 60 miles northeast of Grand Island).
He had made the drive out early that morning to help with and observe the
launch. Chris and I had never met face to face until Sunday. We've spoken a few
times on 75 meters, but this was a first. Chris is a great guy and I hope to
see him more often. As I prepped the payloads prior to starting the inflation
process, dark clouds loomed to our northwest and the rumble of thunder was
heard in the distance. That should have been a sign, but I pressed on. I had
reprogrammed the Basic Stamp to take pictures every 30 seconds and had a brand
new 1 GB card in the camera and had it properly positioned. I thought I would
have hundreds of cool photos this time. Unfortunately in my haste, I neglected
to turn off the flash and the lithium batteries were toast after 200 pictures. Didn't even make it to burst. I've been working on a cut
down system, to get rid of the balloon soon after it bursts. This keeps it from
tangling in the parachute cord and load line during the post-burst chaos. I
wish I had finished that project, but after this...it's been moved to the top
of the priority list.
We stayed put at Walnut
Middle School until the balloon
burst. Once it burst, we stopped receiving the KC0ZWX APRS beacon. We found out
later it was due to the antenna, connectors, and adapters, being torn away from
the coax. The majority of the balloon flight took place directly over Grand
Island and the landing wasn't much of an exception.
Once we realized the payloads were hurdling towards the Earth at a faster than
normal rate, we got into our vehicles to start the chase. It looked at one
point like the payloads might actually land outside the city limits, but that
didn't happen. Fortunately they came to a crashing halt on the east edge of the
city. It narrowly missed power lines, trees, houses, cars, and people. The Styrofoam
soaked up the energy and saved the electronics, the parachute and load lines
were a knotted mess, and the balloon and antenna were nowhere in sight. I won’t
put much faith in the summer time forecast predictions after this near-miss. I
guess this flight would be Chapter 9 of the lessons I’ve learned.
Blue – Actual Track
Green – Predicted Ascent
Red – Predicted Descent
Data
Launch Photos
Aerial Photos
Recovery Photos
Video
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