This is Elizabeth speaking! It’s been some time since I was last seen on the blog, so a very quick intro from me: I was a founding member of the NIBBB– I was a high school student then, and now I’m getting ready to graduate undergrad this year. Time flies! The balloon that flew with my call, KD9ORR, was the first successful launch and long flight of the NIBBB project.
Today, I’m extremely excited to share something I was very privileged to play a small part in this past summer: fram2ham!
NET this spring, the fram2 mission will launch 4 astronauts into polar orbit for the first time ever aboard Crew Dragon. Rabea Rogge, mission specialist and German amateur radio operator, will be operating amateur radio equipment from Dragon to send SSTV signals to earth!
On the ground, students in eligible regions ages 16-25 can form teams between schools across the country and internationally. Through working together, teams will assemble SSTV images representing regions important to polar history. By correctly identifying the locations in the SSTV photographs, teams can win QSL cards with flown mission stickers!
I’m so unbelievably excited that Dragon will be supporting not just an amateur radio payload but a payload that will be contributing to STEM education worldwide! If you are a student enrolled in school at the moment, I highly encourage you to check out the website and consider involving yourself and your peers in the competition! If you’re a non-student faculty member or a non-student with connections to a student community, it would also be super cool to see the amateur radio community help spread the word and encourage the creation of teams.
fram2ham is providing a ‘manual’ providing not only competition details but also the recommended hardware and signal chain for participating. There’s a Discord server available that provides Q&A and is facilitating the creation of teams. (Please direct your questions and inquiries there– I’m not a rep for this project, just excited to share the news!)
By the way, this is the first in a series of future blog posts from members of the NIBBB focused on their own projects and exploits! There’s more cool updates to come from our members on the horizon, so please stay tuned. 🚀✨
We started the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade on June 9th 2021
Without any previous knowledge of this project. We spent the summer researching, and began launching Pico Balloons, 3 months later.
We will be celebrating our 3rd Anniversary in a couple of weeks on June 9th 2024. In our 3 years we launched over 35 Pico balloons.
In our early months we were launching on a regular basis, sometimes two or three times a month. With some successes along the way. We had our 1st long flight in December of 2021, of Pico Balloon KD9ORR that flew 19 days, crossing the International Date Line twice in the same day. Once going east, dropping out of the Jetstream and then going back west and spending 8 days around the Marshall Islands. It was fun watching and reporting on that balloon. We started our website during the flight of KD9ORR. Click here to follow our 8th launch of Pico Balloon KD9ORR
We had three flights in 2022 that made multiple circumnavigations. Pico Balloon AA6DY launched in September, for 83 days of flight and three times around the world, Pico Balloon K9YO launched in October for 123 days of flight and seven times around the world and Pico Balloon KD9UQB launched from Antarctica in November for 100 days of flight and seven times around the world.
Our Antarctica launch was conducted by Todd McKinney, KN4TPG a student with the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Our other partner on this launch was Tom Medlin, W5KUB who we continue to consult with on our launches.
We launched two Pico Balloons on April 13th 2024 for Calvin Knowles KD9WNU and his Mom Janet Knowles KD9WVO. Below is our group who participated in this launch. The slideshow of our launch is on our home page https://nibbb.org/
Both balloons stayed pretty close to each other for their flight, but we lost Calvin’s balloon over Ukraine after 5 days of flight. We believe it was a weather that brought the balloon down. Calvin likes to tell his friends that it was shot down.
Janet’s Balloon KD9WVO-11 has been doing very well, now over 43 days of flight and preparing for its 3rd circumnavigation very soon.
Since our last launch on April 13th 2024, we also lost communication with Pico Balloon NE9JJ-2 that was carrying a weather sensor built by Todd McKinney, KN4TPG with the University of Alabama in Huntsville. NE9JJ transmitted for 44 days, and 4 times around the world gathering weather data that Todd found very useful. NE9JJ is Jim Janiak who’s callsign was KD9UQB for the Antarctica launch and some others.
Although I haven’t written here in over a month, you can follow our balloons in flight which are updated daily at our Locate and Track page at this link https://nibbb.org/links-to-locate-and-track/
Our website header shows our balloons sharing the skies with other Pico Balloons flying around the world. It’s a big world and a small part of the hobby of Amateur Radio.
Tracking worldwide Pico Balloons is provided by Sondehub which is the 1st link on our Locate and Track page.
All the pictures from our last launch and group projects have been moved to our home page https://nibbb.org/ Our home page also has group pictures of our NIBBB members through the years, and slideshows of our launches and build projects that I hope you’ll visit and share with others.
We have close to 190 followers here at the NIBBB that receive emails when posts are published. Our most recent followers are from Australia, the United Kingdom and Germany.
We look to our worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators, to help track our balloons, receiving our packets and report the data. If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t know where we were, wouldn’t receive important data of our location, and altitude, additional data such as temperature, humidity and pressure at altitude, and how our trackers are behaving during the flight.
Our followers can point their antennas where we’re projected to be, by going to our Locate and Track page for our reported location and the forward trajectory NOAA Hysplit Model, as shown below for Pico Balloon KD9WVO. NOAA provides us with an 84 hour projected trajectory that we update daily.
I’d like to also thank our members of the NIBBB for their dedication, and time.
We’re looking forward to our launches in June for Gordie Mulley KD9TVR and Kelsi Mulley KE9LSI, who’ve been waiting a long time for their launch. Mikaela Streicher, KD9VIW will be launching sometime after June.
Calvin Knowles KD9WNU and Gordie Mulley KD9TVR are finishing the 7th grade in a week or two. Kelsi Mulley KE9LSI just completed her junior year in high school. Mikaela Streicher KD9VIW just finished her freshman year in college. Elizabeth Ziemer KD9ORR with our original group just finished her junior year in college. Henry Fiely KD9SRZ from our original group is finishing his freshman year in high school and Noah Berg, KD9RDT from our original group is finishing his sophomore year in high school. Congratulations to our younger members of the NIBBB.
We’ll be sharing information very soon on our new tracker which we hope to start launching in July. For now, the group is working on a development board testing the chips and software.
Thank you to everyone around the world who have shared our project with us.
We launched two balloons on Saturday April 13th 2024 from Willow Hill Golf Course in Northbrook, IL, for our two newest team members, Janet Knowles, KD9WVO and her son Calvin, KD9WNU. Calvin is a 7th grader and member of the Central School Amateur Radio Club in Glencoe, Illinois.
For these launches we used the Zachtek trackers which Janet and Cal built in two sessions with Ken Daniel, K9YO at their October 14th and 28th 2023 build sessions pictured on our Home page https://nibbb.org/
After the build, the trackers were then sent to Stewart KB9LM for testing. For this launch we are testing a new balloon from the Yokohama Balloon company in Yokohama, Japan. Yokohama is a favorite among the Pico Balloon community and recently they started selling a valveless balloon. When we fill a balloon for launch, we use just enough gas to lift the package plus a little more for free lift.
The partially filled balloon’s valve doesn’t close fully until the balloon reaches full altitude. To make sure the gas doesn’t escape prior to launch, we used Kapton tape over the valve opening. With a valveless balloon we’re able to heat seal the balloon after filling and then Kapton tape to secure the package to the balloon.
For this flight, Pico Balloon KD9WVO we used a valveless Yokohama balloon stretched to a circumference of 102 inches. Pico Balloon KD9WNU we used a valved Yokohama Balloon stretched to a circumference of 100 inches. During the flight, we’ll be able to see the difference in altitude.
Pictured below is the group assisting in our launch
Back Row left to right; Jim Janiak NE9JJ, Michael Seedman AA6DY, Cary Willis KD9ITO, Douglas Mulley KD9TPM and Stewart Spies KB9LM. Front Row, left to right; Janet Knowles KD9WVO, Leeloo Knowles, Calvin Knowles KD9WNU, Gordie Mulley KD9TVR, Kyli Mulley and Kelsi Mulley KE9LSI.
Pico Balloon KD9WVO, launched at 15:43 UTC, slideshows below
Michael Seedman, and Stewart Spies, preparing the balloon
In the group Gordie and Cal both 7th graders, Janet holding the balloon assisted by Jim Janiak
Michael, and Stewart unrolling the antenna, and monofilament line, Doug holding the tracker and lower antenna
Janet releasing the balloon
Nice easy lift
Balloon and tracker released
Balloon and Tracker Launched
Pico Balloon KD9WNU, launched at 16:00 UTC, slideshow below
In the group Cal holding the balloon, from the left, Jim, Doug, Stewart, Cal, Leeloo, Janet and Gordie
Cal preparing to release his balloon
Balloon is released
Tracker is released
Balloon and Tracker is flying
Below, Pico Balloon KD9WVO launched at 15:43 UTC, is now asleep at Grid EM98ua at 22:54 UTC, West Virginia, flying for 7 hours and and 11 minutes, at an altitude of 41,535 feet. For this launch we used a valveless Yokohama balloon, stretched to 102 inches.
Below, Pico Balloon KD9WNU launched at 16:00 UTC, is now asleep at Grid EM99CB, at 22:24 UTC, West Virginia, for 6 hours and 24 minutes of flying at an altitude of 40,485 feet. For this launch we used a valved Yokohama balloon stretched to 100 inches.
Pico Balloon KD9WVO on day 2 awake on April 14th 2024 at Grid FM75aa, flying at an altitude of 41,141 feet, after flying for 20 hours and 21 minutes
Pico Balloon KD9WNU on day 2 awake on April 14th 2024 at Grid FM75cl, flying at an altitude of 40,485 feet, after flying for 20 hours and 4 minutes
Below is the NOAA Hysplit for Pico Balloon KD9WVO and Pico Balloon KD9WNU for April 15th 2024 thru April 18th 2024 projection to Krakow, Poland April 18th 2024
Pico Balloon NE9JJ-2 which was launched on March 2nd 2024 is awake at Grid DK47fr, flying for 42 days and 19 hours, preparing for the 4th Circumnavigation around the world on April 16th 2024.
Pico Balloon NE9JJ-2 at Grid DK47fr after 42 days and 19 hours of flight
Below is the Hysplit for Pico Balloon NE9JJ-2 from April 15th 2024 thru April 18th 2024, heading towards The Gambia, West Africa
Please bookmark for updates to our website of our home page https://nibbb.org/ and daily updates for current balloons in flight on our Locate and Track page
Pico Balloon NE9JJ-2 approaching Mexico. Pico Balloon KD9WVO and Pico Balloon KD9WNU launched 15 minutes apart are flying close together over the North Atlantic Ocean.
Pico Balloon NE9JJ-2 was launched on March 2nd 2024 from Grayslake, IL. Pico Balloon NE9JJ-2, makes its 2nd circumnavigation around the world today, after 20 days and 18 hours of flight. Information on this flight, launch pictures, location and 84 hour forward trajectory is updated daily on our Locate and Track page.
This launch was conducted in partnership with Todd McKinney, KN4TPG with the University of Alabama in Huntsville. The tracker designed by Ken Daniel, K9YO, 3 panel 12 cell solar package designed by Jim Janiak, NE9JJ to hold the new tracker and weather sensor by Todd McKinney, KN4TPG completes the tracker package weighing approx. 19.3 grams.
As our tracker transmits, amateur radio stations on the ground receive and report our callsign, altitude and location in 2 transmissions 2 minutes apart, the 3rd transmission sends temperature, humidity and pressure at altitide using the weather sensor designed by Todd McKinney weighing 1.6 grams, seen in more detail below.
Weather Sensor by Todd McKinney, KN4TPG from the University of Alabama in Huntsville
Todd had launched our Pico Balloon KD9UQB also flying as W5KUB-115 with Tom Medlin, from Antarctica on November 23rd 2022 which flew for 100 days and 7 times around the world. Jim Janiak formerly KD9UQB, now NE9JJ designed both solar panels, the Low Sun Angle, High Power solar array used for the Antarctica flight and the one above for our current flight.
We’re excited to be part of Todd’s new project, receiving weather reports at altitude for longer flights. Please click on this link for more information on The Pico Balloon Archive by Todd McKinney
Below is today’s location for Pico Balloon NE9JJ-2 at Grid EL69TA flying at an altitude of 40,387 feet after 20 days and 18 hours of flight.
Pico Balloon NE9JJ-2 making its 2nd circumnavigation on March 23rd 2024 after 20 days and 18 hours of flight.
Below is the 84 hour projected trajectory for Pico Balloon NE9JJ-2, from March 23rd thru March 27th 2024
Waiting for good weather for our upcoming balloon launches for Gordie; KD9TVR, Kelsi; KE9LSI, Cal; KD9WNU, Janet; KD9WVO, and our other members. So many balloons, not so great weather here in Chicago.
Standing from left to right, Ken K9YO, Stewart KB9LM, Gordie KD9TVR, Jim NE9JJ, Cary KD9ITO, Doug KD9TPM, and kneeling, from left to right, Janet KD9WVO and Cal KD9WNU from our Stretchinator session
We are waiting to hear from our Pico Balloons K9YO and KD9UQB. K9YO was last heard on December 20th over Russia after missing for 5 days. We believe K9YO had traveled north away from sunlight. We’re looking forward to K9YO coming back into the sun and around for the 5th Circumnavigation.
Pico Balloon KD9UQB which was launched on November 24th from Antarctica has circumnavigated twice and is now believed to be circling the South Pole at 5 miles per hour. It may be another week before KD9UQB finds a faster moving wind and direction east.
The NIBBB met last Saturday for our occassional breakfast meeting. Jim, KD9UQB shared the two solar panel packages he built based on the design for the Antarctica launch. During this show and tell, Jim also shared another solar panel design that looks like a 6 panel pyramid or spaceship that would catch more sunlight for the winter months. Jim KD9UQB and John W9BLN will be testing these panels.
We also discussed whether we needed to seal the balloon valve with glue. All the balloons we use have an internal valve that closes once the balloon is at full volume. Full volume occurs when we pre-stretch the balloon or when it reaches its steady high altitude. We have also experienced a loss of Hydrogen from the time the balloon is filled and sealed till it’s launched, usually the next morning. The delay in launching was needed to allow for the glue to dry.
Michael Seedman, AA6DY and Stewart Spies, KB9LM, earlier tested the effectiveness of all glues, and different tapes at -67 degrees Fahrenheit using a Laboratory Oven at MHub in Chicago.
At our meeting, we went on to discuss if a condiment such as mayonnaise or mustard would be as effective as glue.
Listening intently on the science of sealing and the discussion were the Mulley Family, Doug, KD9TPM, Kelsi, KE9LSI, Gordie, KD9TVR, and Kyli. John Walsh, W9BLN, Jim Janiak, KD9UQB, Michael Seedman, AA6DY, Stewart Spies KB9LM, and Cary Willis, KD9ITO.
A future experiment we may be testing through actual flights, and answering the question, Which is better? glue, no glue, mustard/mayonnainse with and without Kapton tape and/or heat sealed.
As we work through these various questions, and test our new trackers we are getting ready to launch our next Pico Balloons early in the new year.
Below are pictured with their Dad Doug Mulley KD9TPM, two of our younger members, Gordie KD9TVR and Kelsi KE9LSI, brother and sister who received their General license together last summer in preparation for this upcoming launch.
Kelsi Mulley KE9LSI, Doug Mulley KD9TPM and Gordie Mulley KD9TVR testing the voltage of our new solar panel package
Kelsi Mulley KE9LSI and her brother Gordie Mulley KD9TVR with their new General license
We mentioned that one of our followers, Hisami 7L4IOU had wrote an article for CQ Magazine Japan that was published in the November 2022 issue. I asked some friends of mine, Mina and Kyogi Nakano to translate this article.
Below, from Hisami, 7L4IOU
On 9/3, high altitude balloon AA6DY was released in Illinois. By 9/14, it reached Japan and by 10/4 it has circled around Japan for the second time. This Balloon is managed by the group called “Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade” and this was their 24th launch to date.
The balloon is powered by a tiny and ultra light solar panels, GPS, One Chip Microcomputer Si5351A Clock Oscillation IC.
14.0956 MHz WSPR transmitter is attached to a party balloon and it continues to fly while the transmitter is exposed to the sunlight.
Since it is a good “On The Job” skill training for electronic circuit, programming, gas and pressure management, radiowave propagation and upper air charts
the group has gained wide popularity especially among young people.
By the way, the group blog and email conversations often mention the phrase “Yokohama Balloon.”
We were curious so when we asked, the group replied by saying the balloons manufactured by Yokohama Balloon Co. are highly regarded by the balloon enthusiasts.
We are very honored to learn about the Japanese toy makers’ meticulous effort being recognized. At the same time, we are also frustrated and very envious of the American balloon enthusiasts because in order for Japanese people to launch such a project, we must acquire licensing and legal system clearance! Sigh!
We wish to thank Hisami and all our followers of the NIBBB.
We have since lost Pico Balloon AA6DY, last heard on November 24th 2022, after circling the world three times. Pico Balloon AA6DY had traveled for 82 days, spending most of the flight time around the Pacific Ocean. Reminiscing back in time, below is from our Blog dated October 3rd 2022.
It’s Deja Vu all over again. AA6DY woke at 22:32 UTC, 5:32 pm CDT at Grid QM14MJ just east of Yokohama, Japan over the North Pacific Ocean. Our altitude is 14,420 meters, 47,298 feet.
QM14MJ, east of Yokohama Japan
The Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has made all this possible. Wishing you and your families, Happy Holidays and a prosperous New Year.
We will continue to update our Locate and Track page throughout our flights.
After a few days of silence, K9YO reported on December 19th at 01:30 UTC at Grid PN64HA near Vladivostok, Russia, at an altitude of 11,900 meters, 39,032 feet. K9YO is now at 69 days and 11 hours of flight time. The NOAA Hysplit model shows K9YO heading east then northwest over 84 hours. The Sondehub Float shows K9YO heading east. We should see another reading tomorrow and will update our Locate and Track page
K9YO at Grid PN64HA altitdue 39,032 feet
Pico Balloon KD9UQB has been close to the Day/Night Change Line with longer wake times. Reporting below at Grid NC21LV at 14:14 UTC December 19th 2022. Pico Balloon KD9UQB is flying at an altitude of 10,600 meters, 34,768 feet, for 25 days and 8 hours of total flight time.
Pico Balloon KD9UQB Best Guess location on December 23rd, 00:00 UTC Grid OC88aa
KD9UQB Best Guess December 23rd Grid OC88aa
Tracking our balloons on one page using APRS for December 19th
K9YO near Sea of Japan, KD9UQB Antarctica, (AA6DY missing since November 24th)
Our Locate and Track page has been updated for Pico Balloons K9YO and KD9UQB for APRS, Ventusky for wind speed and direction, 84 hour NOAA Hysplit model, Sondehub for tracking Float direction and other Pico Balloons around the world.
It may be a few days between posts, the Locate and Track page will be updated as new information is received. We encourage you to check this page and the links available for tracking all our balloons.
AA6DY woke at Grid RM64 at 20:12 UTC 3:12pm CDT. We’re still waiting for the 2nd packet. With just the 1st packet we have the 4 Grid Maidenhead and the power of 47dBm which gives us at least 14,100 meters over 46,000 feet. As we’re heading east, our wakeup will be coming earlier tomorrow.
I’d like to put a shout out to the members in attendance at the W9DXCC Convention in Naperville, Illinois who were in attendance for our Pico Balloon presentation by Michael Seedman, AA6DY whose balloon we’re flying.
We’re receiving two Amateur Radio Stations that are giving us our 4 Grid Maidenhead, 1st AI6VN/G Robert from Half Moon Bay California who also has a home in Maui is reaching us 3,228 km or 2,074 miles from our balloon and VK4CT a station from Australia 7,169 Km or 4,455 miles from our balloon at 10mW.
We do have a change on our NOAA Hysplit Model at 14,100 meters, over a 48 hour period showing us heading east and maintaining altitude, I’ll continue to monitor this when we get our 2nd packet.
Our Links to Locate and Track Tab have been updated with today’s information.
As we celebrated Michael’s Birthday last week on day 7, I’m happy to be celebrating my Birthday today on day 14.
We’re still meeting, and building while AA6DY is flying.
Some of our members were able to gather on Saturday September 10th at the home of the Berg’s, who hosted our build session.
One of the most difficult parts of our Pico Balloon Project is building the solar panel package. The Polycystalline solar panels are so fragile, that a sudden touch can break a panel. Jim Janiak, KD9UQB designed a template to hold a single solar panel in place for ease of soldering. Once one side is soldered, it’s then glued to the plate, then soldered and repeated.
Each solar panel is glued to the styrofoam plate and soldered in series. The wires from negative to positive are stripped before soldering. After working on several renditions of this package, Jim KD9UQB had designed our current board. Jim was our Elmer and Guide who patiently worked with each of us.
Joining us for this session were, The Berg’s; Noah KD9RDT, Bob KD9RDU, and Wendy KD9RDV, Ken Daniel K9YO, Cary Willis KD9ITO, Mikaela Streicher KD9VIW, The Mulley’s; Doug KD9TPM, Kelsi KE9LSI, and Gordie KD9TVR. We also had the support of Winston close at hand.
Jim started out with an introduction to the tools, parts and a step by step instruction. We then broke into groups and started cutting out the styrofoam template. We had four soldering stations spread around five tables.
We ended with 3 complete solar panel packages weiging around 4.7 grams each, tested and ready to fly. This session added to the two other solar panel packages that Jim had completed
We’re looking forward to flying Pico Balloons for our three younger Generals, Kelsi Mulley KE9LSI, Gordie Mulley KD9TVR and Mikaela Streicher KD9VIW.
We’ll be updating our Technical page which will provide instructions on how to build and launch Pico Balloons, hosted by Ken Daniel K9YO. You’ll also be able to read and follow Ken’s future Pico Balloon launches here at the NIBBB.
Please enjoy this slideshow from yesterday’s session
Jim KD9UQB, Gordie KD9TVR, Doug, KD9TPM, Kelsi KE9LSI, and Mikaela KD9VIW
Cary and Bob in the back
Up front, Noah KD9RDV cutting out the template and some ot the others
The Mulley’s on the left, Kelsi, Gordie and Doug and Mikaela on the right and Winston under the table
Gordie KD9TVR and Mikaela KD9VIW working on their respective packages
Noah KD9RDV soldering his solar panel assited by Cary KD9ITO
Gordie KD9TVR and Doug KD9TPM working together
Mikaela KD9VIW and the finished product
Mikaela testing the voltage assisted by Doug KD9TPM
Mikaela, Doug, Gordie and Kelsi
Kelsi KE9LSI, Doug KD9TPM and Gordie KD9TVR
Gordie with the panel and Doug testing with the Multimeter
As we reported in our last post, we were ready to launch two balloons last Saturday, August 27th. After completing the Board and getting ready for launch, Michael started testing the tracker and discovered it wasn’t working properly. The night before, we discovered our tracker was only transmitting one packet. We need both packets sent two minutes apart to receive the 6 Grid Maidenhead location, altitude and other data. Not having all the data we needed for a successful launch, we decided to scrub the launch until we could find the trouble.
On our last post we had shown our 3rd party manufactured tracker minus a few chips. Because of the chip shortage, it’s necessary for us to add some our own sourced chips. After spending time looking at the software as a possible issue, we suspected the problem to be a hardware issue. One of the substituted chips was the MS5351 Clock Generator. On our previous trackers, we were using the Skyworks Si5351, however, due to supply chain issues, we ordered the MS5351, thinking it was a plug-in replacement for the Skyworks chip. We found that the MS5351’s didn’t always work. After finding a board that failed consistently, we removed the MS5351 and replaced it with an original Skyworks chip, we retested, and we’re now back in business. We now have two working trackers for our next launch. We also ordered the Skyworks Si5351A-B-GT chips from Digikey to make sure our future trackers will work properly.
We also discovered during this down period, that the two Yokohama balloons that were prepared for last Saturday, were found to be leaking a small amount of gas – about 1g of lift per day. We were planning on using these pre-stretched and filled with the proper free lift gas for this Saturday’s launch. I suppose it was pure luck to discover the balloons had a small leak which would have lead to a failed launch, if we hadn’t scrubbed the launch.
After we discovered these failed balloons, Michael AA6DY and Stewart KB9LM of our Technical team had conference calls with Ken Daniel K9YO and with Tom Medlin W5KUB on our different balloons. Ken has been successful flying the SAG balloons and Tom, the Yokohama’s. While Stewart was able to get the process of pre-stretching and sealing from Ken, Tom shared that the failure rate of a Yokohama balloon was about 70%. While we’re not sure if that’s a failure from launch or cutting short the journey, Tom’s flight 112 has just circumnavigated the world and is currently flying on day 82 with a Yokohama balloon over Canada heading to the north pole.
We have several groups working together to prepare for a launch. After the Balloons, Tracker, Solar Panels and Antenna package are prepared, the last step before launch is to look at the weather and the Jetstream. It is now up to our Meteorological committee to determine whether we are good to go, which we now have.
Our Meteorological committee of Kelsi Mulley KE9LSI (our new General) and her Dad Doug Mulley KD9TPM are providing daily weather reports leading up to the launch. NOAA (National Oceanic and Athmospheric Administration) provides all our models from balloon location for all weather and trajectory. NOAA gives us updates on Hurricanes and Cyclones which may impact our launch as well as a Hysplit trajectory, which shows our projection of travel from a given altitude and location. We start with our launch location and projected altitude and create a model showing the projected path over a 48 or 84 hour period. The NOAA Hysplit Trajectory model takes into account the weather, pressure, and Jetstream, and adjusts the altitude and direction. During the flight this committee will update the Hysplit models.
We are now planning our next launch on Saturday September 3rd 2022 at Willow Hill Golf Course, 1350 Willow Rd. in Northbrook, IL. We will be launching two balloons, KD9UQB for Jim Janiak, and AA6DY for Michael Seedman, and now with the Go Ahead from our committee, we will be meeting at 8:30 am Saturday September 3rd.
So, what do we have in common with Artemis? We research, prepare and test, up to and throughout our launch.
KD9TPM was launched on July 30th from Willow Hill Golf Course in Northbrook, Illinois and came alive on July 31st over Canada. We last heard from our balloon on August 10th over the North Pacific Ocean. KD9TPM had flown 10 days and 16 hours and we now declare it Missing In Action.
KD9TPM travel map from July 30th 2022 to August 10th 2022 courtesy of WSPR.Rocks
We are in our planning stages for our next launch and will keep an eye out for KD9TPM
Our Technical Team is working on building our Solar Panel and Antenna packages and look forward to many future launches.
