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New Mexico State University
Klipsch School of Electrical & Computer Engineering
College of Engineering

 

BalloonSat Mission

For the past four years, students in the Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering senior design classes have been working on a nanosatellite prototype. This project was flown on May 31/June 1, 2008 on a NASA high-altitude research balloon from Fort Sumner, NM. Over 100 students worked on this project at various times.  The balloon launch was made possible by NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF).

 

BalloonSat mission ground track

MISSION GOALS:

Science Goal:

Measure the earth and space UV intensity every 10 seconds for at least 45 minutes at night

Engineering Goal:

Demonstrate the capabilities of the hardware and software components needed for orbital missions

Outreach Goal:

Provide public view of operations via the amateur radio APRS network Bonus Features: takes pictures upon operator command and operate payload remotely over the Internet

BalloonSat Subsystems:

  • Payload Structure: aluminum structure to hold components and containment boxes to hold electronics
  • Science Sensors: two Hamamatsu photomultiplier tubes to measure UV radiation in the 300 to 450 nm region during the night portion of the flight
  • Communications: Kenwood TH-D7 radios and Kantronics 9612+ modems to support (a) command and telemetry communications and (b) APRS outreach communications
  • GPS: u-blox GPS receiver
  • Magnetometer/Rate Gyro: Micro-Strain 3DM-GX1 to measure earth's magnetic field and spin rate of the payload
  • Discrete sensors: thermistors to measure temperature in the flight computer, phototubes, and radios
  • Analog-to-Digital Converter: two National Instruments 8-channel USB-6008 ADC boards
  • Camera: Matrix Vision "Blue Fox" USB camera
  • Flight Computer: Diamond Systems "Athena II" processor running Win2K operating system and LabVIEW for the control software; 4 GB IDE flash drive for the disk
  • Groundstations: Kenwood DM-710 radios and laptop computers
  • Software: LabVIEW in both the flight computer and groundstations for control and data processing.

Major Sponsors:

International Telemetering Conference

The following papers on the project were presented at the 2008 International Telemetering Conference held in San Diego, CA in October 2008.  Papers are Copyright © INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR TELEMETERING, 2008

 

To download a movie of the flight preparation and launch, click BalloonSat video .  Note, the file is long (approx. 90 MB).  It should play with most video players.

To download the NMSU press release for the flight, click

To download the mission poster, click

 

BalloonSat Mission Goals and NMSU Component Performance
Goal Minimum Success Criterion Performance Achieved % Achieved Comments
Science Goals:
1 Measure UV intensity on both photomultiplier tubes at least once every 10 seconds for at least 45 minutes Measured intensity on both photomultiplier tubes every 10 seconds for 49 minutes 100% Made additional measurements on a single tube
2 Obtain the measurements between the end of evening astronomical twilight and the beginning of morning astronomical twilight Measurements began 2 hours after the end of astronomical twilight and extended until 3 hours before the beginning of morning astronomical twilight 100%  
Engineering Goals:
1 Obtain positioning and timing information from the GPS unit at least once every 5 minutes GPS positioning measurements were obtained through 12362 m (40551 ft) 50% GPS unit was still communicating with flight computer; positions were invalid for some unknown cause.
2 Resynch the flight computer's time to the GPS via operator command Resynchronization performed on the flight line 100%  
3 Demonstrate the capability to set and reset relays upon operator command PMT, GPS, magnetometer, Communications 1, and PMT heater relays all set and reset by operator command 100%  
4 Demonstrate the capability to upload a command schedule file to the flight computer Command schedule file uploaded prior to launch while payload was on the flight line. An attempt to upload a modified schedule during flight was unsuccessful. 75% Command schedule upload failure was unsuccessful due to link quality problems. Link was designed for use with a ground station antenna with 10 dB more gain.
5 Demonstrate the capability to download a JPEG thumbnail image under operator control. Transmission was attempted but unsuccessful due to link errors. 25% Link was designed for use with a ground station antenna with 10 dB more gain. Transmission worked in hanger test.
6 Demonstrate the capability to automatically collect photomultiplier data at least once every 10 seconds for 45 minutes Data were collected automatically every 10 seconds for 49 minutes 100%  
7 Demonstrate the capability to control the payload from at least two locations Payload was controlled from Fort Sumner, NM and Holbrook, AZ. 100%  
8 Demonstrate the capability for the payload to operate without continuous operator involvement Payload operated autonomously during the handover period between groundstations. 100%  
9 Test operations of candidate earth sensor design Earth sensor measurement made every 3 minutes as part of payload status measurement 100%  
Outreach Goals:
1 Transmit the position at least once every five minutes via APRS APRS position beacons transmitted and received in the APRS network 100%  
2 Transmit the telemetry snapshot at least once every five minutes via APRS APRS telemetry beacons transmitted and received in the APRS network 100%  
Bonus Features:
1 Take pictures from operator command 5 photos taken by operator command    
2 Remotely operate groundstations over the Internet Control of the payload through the two groundstations was also accomplished over the Internet from NMSU    

 

Hanger at the Fort Sumner airport where the payload staging was done.

BalloonSat payload electronics being readied for final integration.

"Thunderbird" payload and ballast carrier.

BalloonSat payload being test fitted with the Thunderbird carrier.

"Hang test" where electomagnetic compatibility and payload configuration are checked.

BalloonSat payload wrapped in foam and protective tape and ready for flight.

BalloonSat sponsor logos.

Attaching the crush pad to the Thunderbird.

Dropping the antennas for flight.

Sunrise on the morning of launch: May 31, 2008

Rolling out the balloon for launch.

Beginning the 1-hour balloon inflation process with Helium.

Balloon inflation continues.

Balloon fully inflated and ready for launch.

Thunderbird payload carrier attached to "Big Bill" and positioned for launch.

Thunderbird is released from Big Bill and the mission is underway.

Launch!

Fort Sumner taken at 15:09 UTC from 34.4917 N, 104.0450 W; altitude 27605 ft.

Portales, NM taken at 16:31 UTC from 34.4850 N, 103.7350 W; altitude 91926 ft.

Laguna del Perro region taken at 20:55 UTC from 35.1100 N, 105.3983 W; altitude 118146 ft.

South from Albuquerque, NM taken at 23:17 UTC from 35.1967 N, 105.9850 W; altitude 112838 ft.

From Albuquerque to White Sands NM taken at 1:00 UTC from 35.0150 N, 106.4333 W; altitude 110591 ft.

Altitude profile (data courtesy of CSFB).

Raw photomultiplier measurements of the UV brightness pointing down from the payload and point out towards space.