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Overview |
Chad Knapp (KB5VUG) had been researching ham radio balloon
launches for about a year off and on. With the ability of APRS and GPS Chad
talked to JD Jordan (WG5B) and Neil Mayo
(KC5AMX) and started the ball rolling.
Goal was to have fun and try something new for all of us, learn something new, as well as "promote" Amateur Radio as a whole..
Chad asked Neil to see if he could find an outlet for "Weather Balloons" and he
Did! Neil has made arrangements to have a case of them Donated to us "SOARESSS"
by the National Weather Service in Norman. JD has an old VHF handie talkies he's
modified for 144.390MHz APRS Frequency. Cable One, when approached by SOARESSS
members, agreed to donated a GPS unit for this project if the first launch would
be at Oak Hall School here in Ardmore.
Overview of the Flight
The process of launching a Near Space Craft involves prepping the capsule and
filling a balloon. After a pre-flight checklist is completed, the assembled
vehicle is taken outside and released. Ascent rates are typically 800 - 900 feet
per minute, with flights taking about 2 - 3 hours to reach apogee. The flight is
terminated when the balloon bursts due to reduced atmospheric pressure. A
parachute is pre-deployed at launch to prevent a deployment failure later in the
flight. At altitude, the parachute cannot effectively slow down the capsule.
Descent rates in excess of 6000 feet per minute are experienced. At
approximately 50,000 feet, the air becomes dense enough to significantly slow
the capsule in preparation for landing and recovery.
The SOARES-1 Launch
On Thursday May 22nd 2003 at 09:10am members of the SOARESSS group launched
SOARES-1.
The launch location was from Oak Hall School in Ardmore OK. on Hwy 142 at Mt
Washington Rd. The whole School turned out! We explained what it is and why we
do this prior to the launch and then we launched the balloon at around 9:10am.
We recovered the balloon remnants and payload at 11:13am 1.5 miles NE of Sherman
Texas, an altitude of 64,896 feet was attained. On our first attempt!
Special Thanks to our Sponsors
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