Recap of EOSS-100

 

EOSS-100 was a special flight! And, November 2005 marked EOSS's 15th anniversary. We managed to make this a memorable event. There were several scheduled activities. Check out the 100th Flight Announcement Page for the details on those events. And take a peek at the invitation that went out to many folks via surface mail (USPS).

LAUNCH DATE: 12-Nov-2005
LAUNCH TIME:07:36:20 am
LAUNCH SITE: Intrado Headquarters (Driving Directions)

Pre-flight Prediction and Actual Track

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


Maps made with MapPoint
Prediction made with Balloon Track

Launch Site - Intrado
-----------------------
Launch Point: 40.1396� lat.   -105.1345� long.
Grid: X=-11.75 Y=57.55
Ascent Rate: 1000 feet per minute
Descent Rate: 950 feet per minute
Altitude: 5043 feet
Predicted Landing Site
-----------------------
Landing Point: 40.1246� lat.  -104.0786� long.
Grid: X=44.0 Y=56.5
Altitude: 4500 feet
Flight Time: 131 Minutes
Bearing: 90.7� True
Range: 55.7 Mi.
Actual Landing Site
-----------------------
Landing Point: 40.0008� lat.  -104.1369� long.
Grid: X=41.0 Y=48.0
Bearing: 100.0� True
Range: 53.575 Mi.
Difference from Predicted to Actual Landing Site
--------------------------------------------------
Bearing: 199.8� True
Range: 9.087 Mi.

 

EOSS Frequencies:

Global Frequencies

Balloon Frequencies

  • Beacon
  • APRS
    • 144.340 MHz (Payload Train)
      • ID: AE�SS-11
      • DIGI: EOSS
      • Node: BALNOD
      • APRS Time Slotted to 0:00 every minute
      • Telemetry Every 2 minutes at 0:00
      • Sample Data
  • ATV
    • 426.250 MHz (AM)
    • ID: AE0SS
    • De-spun ATV package

Flight Systems:

Balloon Manufacturer Kaysam
Balloon Type latex
Balloon Size 3000 gram
Payload 20 lbs.
Free Lift % calculated at fill
Ascent Rate 1362.4 fpm calculated
Descent Rate -877.5 fpm avg. below 10K ft.
Parachute 10 ft
Peak Altitude 96,616 ft. ASL
Launch Conditions determined at launch

 

Payload Configuration:

Internet Gateway Stations:

as seen on Findu.Com

Hey, I missed one of these folks initially. It took Russ to point it out to me. If you think I've left you out, check the logs at findu and ensure you are visible there, then rattle my cage. I want to get everyone who participated logged.

For EOSS-099 AE0SS-11

  • K0YG-7 - Mark Patton
  • KB0TVJ-2 Russ Chadwick (at ground station)
  • KC0LNO - Michael M Skinner
  • KC0MNZ - Dustin Mundell

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.

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 November 12, 2005

Location Grid X Grid Y
Last Chance 70 30
Ft. Lupton 5 54
Woodrow 70 47
Franktown 8 6
Launch Point -11.87 57.44
Touchdown 43.4 61.8

 

Notes:

Our Customer

Colorado University will be flying several DemoSats.

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

Recaps:

By Rick von Glahn, N0KKZ

EOSS's 100th flight in celebration of our 15th anniversary was launched from Longmont, CO, at 7:36 AM MST on Saturday, November 12th 2005.

Our host, Intrado of Longmont, Colorado, put on a fantastic event. I can't wait to receive and post all of your pictures of the launch site and the mission control center.

We set up our ground station in an auditorium which remained nearly filled with observers during the entire flight. Two huge computer projection screens offered the attendees terrific views of the computer tracking and prediction stations as well as showing off DVD and video taped presentations of past EOSS flights.

We also had in attendance a number of the original founding members of the group at both the Friday night dinner and the flight on Saturday. Pictures of them will be posted as well.

The balloon rose to a max altitude of 96,616 feet.

It descended to a landing 53.6 miles east of Longmont on a bearing of 100 degrees true from the launch site.

The payload train was spotted descending under its parachute by the tracking and recovery teams. It would have been recovered in short order if not for the mud. But, that mud only caused a few delays.

All student payloads were recovered.

The EOSS payloads suffered a bit in the landing but the preliminary consensus was that things could be put back into proper order without too much trouble.

On behalf of EOSS, our thanks go to Intrado for hosting a great event. And thanks to all of our visitors and observers who made the flight as much fun for the flight teams as we hope we made it for you!

Now ... On to our next 100 flights!

For starters:

http://www.eoss.org/flight/

Come out and join us, but don't expect a hot breakfast!!

 

Audio:

No Audio for this flight, I was away from my recorders.

Video:

A Recap filmed and edited by Harry Mueller, KC5TRB

Photos:

Ground Station Setup

Dinner

Awards Bestowed

Launch Site

Mission Control

Aboard Air-One

Recovery Operations

Post Flight Activities

Data:

Google Earth Track File (this is really cool)

Text Files

Spread Sheet File

Radio Coverage:


Map made with Radio Mobile Deluxe

This is the approximate coverage for a flight launched from Windsor, Colorado once it reaches 95,000 feet ASL. Red marks a signal below .25 uV