Recap of EOSS-090

LAUNCH DATE: 30-Apr-2005
LAUNCH TIME: 09:20 am MDT (15:20 UTC)
LAUNCH SITE: Windsor, CO (directions)



On board camera shot at ~ 96,000 ft. ASL

Pre-flight Prediction and Actual Track

Launch Site - Windsor
-----------------------
Launch Point: 40.4737� lat.   -104.9623� long.
Ascent Rate: 1100 feet per minute
Descent Rate: 910 feet per minute
Altitude: 4931 feet

Blue = Actual Track
Green = Predicted Ascent Phase
Red = Predicted Descent Phase


Maps made with MapPoint
Prediction made with Balloon Track

Predicted Landing Site
-----------------------
Landing Point: 40.1499� lat. -103.2865� long.
Grid: X=40.7 Y=28.2
Altitude: 4500 feet
Flight Time: 140 Minutes
Bearing: 103.7� True
Range: 91.0 Mi.
Actual Landing Site
-----------------------
Landing Point: 40.1479� lat. -103.2843� long.
Grid: X=40.9 Y=28.1
Bearing: 103.7� True
Range: 91.169 Mi.
Difference from Predicted to Actual Landing Site
--------------------------------------------------
Bearing: 139.7� True
Range: 0.184 Mi.
Difference from Payload Train Landing Site to Balloon Touchdown
----------------------------------------------------------------
Bearing: 288.0� True
Range: 7.554 Mi.

EOSS Frequencies:

Global Frequencies

  • Preflight Net:
    • 147.225 MHz 107.2 Hz tone
  • Tracking and Recovery Operations
    • 449.450 MHz RMRL Repeater(103.5 Hz Tone)
    • 146.550 MHz simplex (same simplex for field and launch ops)
    • Repeater Coverage Pages - Listings of all repeaters available in the expected flight areas.
    • There may be FRS operations. See THIS PAGE for a list of channel numbers and their associated UHF Frequencies.
    • 7.228 MHz HF (sporadic usage)

EOSS Frequencies

  • Beacon
  • APRS
    • 144.340 MHz (Payload Train)
    • 445.975 MHz (balloon envelop)
      • ID: K�YUK-11
  • ATV
    • 426.250 MHz
    • AM Color

University of Kentucky Frequencies

  • Beacon
    • 146.505 MHz
    • KG4YLM in CW
  • ATV
    • 922 MHz
    • AM
  • Packet Telemetry
    • 446.025 MHz
    • ID: KG4YLM-12
  • APRS
    • NO APRS PACKETS EXPECTED

Flight Systems:

Balloon Manufacturer Raven
Balloon Type Plastic
Balloon Size 54,600 cu. ft
Payload 24.6 lbs. payloads only - 41.4 lbs. (balloon included)
Free Lift % 20%
49.7 lbs.
Ascent Rate 903.5 fpm calculated
Descent Rate 1088.584 fpm at 10K ft.
Parachute 10 ft
Peak Altitude 97,995 Ft. ASL (k0yuk-11)
Launch Conditions winds 3 to 4 mph, cold

 


Payload Configuration:


Internet Gateway Stations:

as seen on Findu.Com

For AE0SS-11

  • K0YG-7 - Mark Patton
  • KC0LNO - Michael M Skinner
  • KI0KN - James Cizek
  • WA0VSL-6 Doug Wilson

for K0YUK-11

  • K0AEM - Richard Beggs
  • K0YG-7 - Mark Patton
  • KC0LNO - Michael M Skinner
  • WA0VSL-6 Doug Wilson

EOSS wishes to express our sincere appreciation to the stations above who iGated the balloon APRS telemetry onto the internet.

We are relying heavily on real time position information available on the net to allow the FAA controllers to have up to the minute location data to assist them in air traffic control.

Redundant stations for the balloon iGating provide excellent coverage. If you are able to iGate we invite you to join the Internet Gateway Team. Contact me (webmaster@eoss.org) to be put in touch with the coordinator. By joining the team, you are giving peace of mind to the iGate coordinator for that flight. He knows you'll be there and he can rely on you.

Naturally, anyone can iGate data onto the net and even if you aren't a member of the team we will welcome your contribution to the internet based tracking effort. If you callsign appears on the findu.com log, you'll be shown as a contributing station as those above are.

Having more than one station covering each APRS beacon means that should a station drop out momentarily, the others maintain the data flow quite nicely.

Thanks again guys! The FAA (and EOSS) are very grateful for your assistance in this endeavor.

Future I-Gaters:

Check out the EOSS I-Gate page for information on how to participate and why we need you.

Current I-Gate Stations:

Guys, the prediction program used to determine the track of the balloon prior to flight can now output a prediction for the Rise, Closest Approach, and Set of the balloon for each of your stations. I have posted a prediction page for stations that I have been able to discover geographic coordinates. See the I-Gate prediction page for an example. The page will not be updated daily, however, it will be updated the evening prior to flight for I-gate planning purposes.

I have often been asked by iGaters when they should expect to either start receiving signals (AOS) or expect to see those signals disappear (LOS). This prediction page should answer all those questions for you.



Photo submitted by Dr. Smith of UK

Tracking and Recovery Info:

Help us build a database of the best RDF/Observation sites in Eastern Colorado. See the Observation Site Database page for ideas on what we'd like to see in this DB and if you're interested in the Balloon Track use of that database.

EOSS Grid:

Grid for April 30, 2005

Location Grid X Grid Y
Intersection 71 and 14 (west) 20 60
Clarkville 76 45
Woodrow 25 16
Akron 45 28
Touchdown 43.4 24.9

 


Tactical Callsigns:

Valid for April 30th, 2005

Tactical Callsign Name Notes
Alpha WA0GEH Marty coordinator
Bravo N0NDM Larry  
Charlie K0JLZ and K0AEM Jim and Richard  
Delta K0LOB Jim  
Echo KB0YRZ and KB0UBZ Chris and Ben  
Fox K0ANN Ann  
India N0LP Nick Ground Station

Recaps:

Tracking and Recovery

Launch Team and Ground Station

The Repair Shop


Photos:

Launch Site

Landing Sites

Charbroiled Payload

Airborne Photos


Video:

Launch Site

  • Launch Site by Larry Cerney, K0ANI (3.8 MB WMV) ~1.5 minutes of prep, fill and the balloon launch
  • Liftoff by George Lehmkuhl, W0NFW

Touchdown

  • The Descent by Jim Zimmerman, K0JLZ (1.5 mins, 3.7 MB, WMV)- final seconds of descent into power lines. A brief attempt to cut payloads down. A jolt or three of electricity.
  • Payload being fried video by Ben Baker, KB0UBZ (15 seconds, 526 KB Windows Media WMV). It's funny for those of us who don't have to finance and build a replacement.

Audio:

Tracking and Recovery Audio is in MP3 audio format.

  • Preflight - 2.8 MB
  • Launch and ascent to just prior to Burst - 7.7 MB
  • Burst to just prior to Landing - 3.5 MB
  • Landing and recovery operations - 6 MB

Data:

The AE0SS-11 data will be filled out with data from the on board recordings once they have been submitted.

Text

Comma Delimited

Charting


Notes:

Our Customer

  • University of Kentucky

The U of KY will be flying Big Blue 3. Big Blue is an investigative program looking into the possibility of using inflatable wings on a Mars glider. For this experiment, the wing inflation pressure must be maintained by the inflation system for comparison with the previous year's flight with inflatable/rigidizable wings. UK's goal is to reach 100,000 ft where BB3 will experience density conditions analogous to those on Mars.

Check out the University of Kentucky's Big Blue Web Site for details on the system and the University's progress in making this technology a real possibility.

Big Blue Links

Big Blue at EOSS

note: customers are welcome to submit detailed synopses of their flights or web links to their own web sites.


Radio Coverage:

  • Green, you should be able to work the payload systems.

  • Red, is the border of the received signal. Red appears jittery because it is depicted topographically. Thus, the red dots on the eastern half of the map but well within the maximum distance show hilly terrain behind (east) which reception is not possible.

This is a generic 95,000 ft ASL coverage map for flights that depart from the vicinity of Windsor, Colorado. Flight day coverage may vary depending on upper air winds.


HF Radio

Usually starts 30 minutes, frequency posted above