San Diego Space Society

Sky Satellite progress

Posted by Jesse Clark in Chapter Updates, Events on January 16, 2011

In January, SD Space continued it’s DIY Satellite workshop at the Space Activities Lab. Several members together with five young space enthusiasts constructed phase one of the project. The initial payload was to be a platform with a mini transmitting camera suspended under a six foot balloon. But testing determined that the transmitting distance was too short so the payload equipment was changed to a recording mini-camera instead.

When it came time to make our first launch attempt, it took two balloon fillings, as the first one burst part way through inflation. But the second inflation was successful, filling to about to about three quarters capacity, enough to easily lift the camera equipment.

Walking the BalloonSat to the local park, the crew launched it to an altitude of around 250′ – the length of the tether line. Wind played a factor, keeping the launch from purely vertical to somewhat inclined, a few times even getting close to the tree tops.

After flying for about 20 minutes, the balloon was reeled back down to the ground. the camera was removed and we walked back to the Lab. There, we played back the video. The video was fun to watch, but very shaky and bumpy. It was apparent that platform stability would be VERY important on the free launched SkySat.

Curious what’s next? Join us for the next phase during the February 19th workshop.