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  STS-133: High-altitude balloon view of launch

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Author Topic:   STS-133: High-altitude balloon view of launch
Robert Pearlman
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Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 02-22-2011 10:27 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Challenger Center for Space Science Education release
Challenger Center and Quest for Stars Chase Discovery at the Edge of Space

Co-sponsored by Challenger Center for Space Science Education, this mission is one in a series of flights conducted by Quest for Stars, a California-based non-profit educational organization that uses off-the-shelf hardware and a little ingenuity to allow students to place experiments at the edge of space at exceptionally low cost.

Quest for Stars and Challenger Center for Space Science Education have now joined together to promote the use of these low cost delivery systems. This mission will be the first of what is hoped to be many future collaborations.

A helium-filled balloon carrying the "Robonaut-1" payload will be launched from a location in Florida some distance away from Kennedy Space Center. The time and location of launch will be determined by weather conditions. With a currently planned STS-133 launch time of 4:50 p.m. EST, the balloon will be launched between 3:00-3:50 p.m. EST so as to be in position for Discovery's supersonic transit of the stratosphere. If there is a delay in the launch of Discovery, the team is ready to try again — several times — on subsequent days.

The balloon will rise at a rate of 800-1,000 feet per minute to an altitude of approximately 100,000 feet. After accomplishing its mission, the payload will be released and descend by parachute. After the payload descends for 15-30 minutes, a trained recovery team will retrieve the payload and download its data and imagery.

Onboard Robonaut-1 is a HD Camera Phone Satellite (PHONESAT) that will attempt to capture images of Space Shuttle Discovery as it leaves Earth for space. Multiple cameras and an on-board computer system will ensure that Discovery launch images will be captured during its ascent. Some of those photos will include logos for Quest For Stars, STS-133, Challenger Center, and Motorola. In addition, the payload contains a Motorola i290 mobile phone and a Garmin eTrex GPS system that is connected to a ham radio transmitter. The payload is designed to have multiple means of communication for backup purposes.

Live video of mission activities will also be streamed during the mission.

Live video from the Robonaut-1 itself during flight will be available.

Updates during the mission including live tracking information during ascent and descent can be obtained by following @QuestForStars or on Facebook.

About Challenger Center for Space Science Education

Using space exploration as a theme and simulations as a vehicle, Challenger Center for Space Science Education and its international network of 48 Challenger Learning Centers create positive educational experiences that raise students' expectations of success, fosters a long-term interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and inspires students to pursue studies and careers in these areas. Challenger Center's network of Challenger Learning Centers across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and South Korea reach more than 300,000 students each year through simulated space missions and educational programs, and engage over 40,000 educators through missions, teacher workshops and other programs.

About Quest for Stars

Quest for Stars is a nonprofit organization that works in partnership with high schools and middle schools to bring the excitement of sending small payloads to the edge of space on high altitude balloons and then retrieving them. Quest for Stars encourages children and young adults to reach for the stars by exposure to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) educational concepts and their application to space research. The organization works with partners such as the Motorola Foundation and Challenger Center for Space Science Education to bring space access down to Earth. The shared mission: to inspire the next generation of explorers.

Once retrieved the payload bay is donated to a school along with pictures in High Definition at the edge of space. This allows the students to be part of the design and launch of the payload -- which is an experience they will never forget. All materials, time, and effort are provided to the selected school at absolutely no cost. Quest for stars provides all materials and FAA interfacing required to launch weather balloons into the stratosphere. Their staff consists of private pilots, electronic experts, and mechanical engineers who ensure that launch vehicles meet all federal regulations.

garymilgrom
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Posts: 1966
From: Atlanta, GA
Registered: Feb 2007

posted 02-22-2011 11:34 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for garymilgrom   Click Here to Email garymilgrom     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It's hard for me to believe NASA would allow a stunt like this. Perhaps the danger is less than I expect but what if the balloon wanders off course and gets close to the shuttle?

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 02-22-2011 12:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
On launch day, NASA closes the airspace surrounding Pad 39A by a 30-nautical mile radius. The balloon's launch site will therefore be outside this area, making it practically impossible for it to come in contact with the shuttle (which itself will only increase the distance as it heads up the east coast).

Update: The balloon's launch site was in Chiefland, Fla., approximately 200 miles away from Pad 39A.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 02-26-2011 10:10 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Quest For Stars photo release:
On the left side you can clearly see the shuttle breaking the black of space barrier. The fogging was normal due to passing through the Troposphere and clouds in Florida.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 02-26-2011 10:13 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Quest for Stars video release
Robonaut-1: Opening the payload bay

After it's flight to the edge of space and capturing the last flight of Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-133), Robonaut-1 falls to earth. We retrieve it and open it live on camera.

alanh_7
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Posts: 1252
From: Ajax, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Apr 2008

posted 02-27-2011 10:28 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for alanh_7   Click Here to Email alanh_7     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
This is pretty amazing.

The Quest For Stars Student program was able to launch their Robonaut 1 home built camera platform in time to catch the launch of STS-133 from 70,000 feet or more.

Listed under "See Our Work" on their website is some pretty amazing video can be found from the edge of space.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 02-27-2011 10:30 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by alanh_7:
Listed under "See Our Work" on their website is some pretty amazing video can be found from the edge of space.
Note that for now, that edge of space video is from an earlier balloon flight. The footage from STS-133 has yet to be released -- with the exception of this, which shows when the balloon popped and Robonaut-1 began its free fall...

alanh_7
Member

Posts: 1252
From: Ajax, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Apr 2008

posted 02-27-2011 03:42 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for alanh_7   Click Here to Email alanh_7     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
My apologies. I saw the video clips from the edge of space on an online news website, not their website.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 03-02-2011 10:11 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Challenger Center for Space Science Education release
Educational Balloon Provides Space Shuttle Launch Images and Video from Over 110,000 Feet

Last week a balloon with a student-oriented payload shot high resolution photos and video from an altitude of over 110,000 feet of Space Shuttle Discovery as it climbed into space.


 
These images and video were released today as part of a mission report provided by Quest for Stars representative Bobby Russell at the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference (NSRC) at the University of Central Florida.
 
The images and video can be viewed online at QuestForStars.com.
 
Co-sponsored by Challenger Center for Space Science Education, this mission, dubbed "Robonaut-1", is one in a series of flights conducted by Quest for Stars, a California-based non-profit educational organization that uses off-the-shelf hardware and a little ingenuity to allow students to place experiments at the edge of space at exceptionally low cost.
 
Quest for Stars and Challenger Center for Space Science Education have now joined together to promote the use of these low cost delivery systems. This mission was the first of what is hoped to be many future collaborations.
 
A helium-filled balloon carrying the "Robonaut-1" payload was launched at 3:50 p.m. EST on Thursday, 24 February 2011 from Chiefland, Florida, so as to be in position for Discovery's supersonic transit of the stratosphere.
 
The balloon rose rapidly at a rate of over 1,000 feet per minute to an altitude of at least 110,000 feet. The altitude may have been higher but the onboard GPS temporarily suspended operations due to the balloon's speed and extreme altitude. After accomplishing its mission, the balloon burst and the payload descended by parachute. A recovery team retrieved the payload and downloaded its data and imagery.
 
The payload onboard Robonaut-1 was comprised of two Motorola Droid X smartphones (with cameras), multiple GoPro Hero Motorsport still cameras, and several High Definition video cameras. In addition, the payload contained a Motorola i290 mobile phone and a Garmin eTrex GPS system that is connected to a ham radio transmitter. This payload was designed to have multiple means of communication for backup purposes.

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