Most charities receive funding through donations from sponsors. Example of fundraising activities are road races and bike rides called a run-a-thon or bikea-thon. The donations are calculated by an anticipated distance travelled horizontally. Kelvin Projects will do the same, except the travel will be vertical - straight up. The anticipated vertical travel is 17 miles into near space in the stratosphere. This is a spaceflight-a-thon to raise money needed for the purchase of a Christian resource center to be donated to the Resurrection Center of Springfield, Massachusetts. Kelvin Projects will donate the funds to Ewen Prime Company, a 501(c)(3), to purchase a building in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts. This building will be sold to the Resurrection Center for one dollar ($1.00). It is anticipated that the Resurrection Center will be a separate corporate entity at this time instead of being a division of Ewen Prime Company as it is currently today.
Inspired by the. $150.00 Icaraus Project by Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2009, a flight vehicle will be developed. The M.I.T project involved launching a sound balloon that carried a camera that took pictures of the curvature of the Earth and blackness of space in the Stratosphere. The flight vehicle being developed by Kelvin Projects is called Kelvin SL-2061-A. The letter suffix represents the flight. SL represents Sky Launcher The sponsorship will fund the assumed $300-400 project, as well as well as provide proceeds going to the building acquisition for the Resurrection Center.
Helium Sounding Balloon 350g $100 www.KaymontBalloons.com Helium tank to fill balloon $100.00 Cut-down mechanism - FAA regulation (unkown if required for small payload ) Rocket Parachute 5' diameter $50 www.the-rocketman.com/chutes
Radar Reflector (FAA Regulation) 3D Intersecting cardboard & Aluminum tape manufactured at Kelvin Projects
Payload Capsule: Styrofoam Cooler carries the payload www.MrBoxOnline.com
Connection is by nylon rope and nylon zip ties. $20
In the United States, there are two sets of regulations governing launching and tracking high-altitude weather balloons. One is from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the other is from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). ● ● ● ● ●
Cell Phones are not permitted to track high-altitude weather balloons in flight. Payloads cannot exceed a package weight/size ratio of three ounces per square inch. * No payload package can exceed 6 lb in weight. Entire weight of all payloads cannot exceed 12 lb in total weight (Excludes weight of balloon). No rope or cable should be used which requires more than 50lb of force to separate payload packages from balloon.
At 3,491 feet, Mount Greylock in Lanesborough is the highest point in Massachusetts. Visitor Center 30 Rockwell Road, P.O Box 138 Lanesborough, MA 01237 413-499-4262 E-Mail: mass.parks@state.ma.us Overnight staging can be at a local motel in the area
We will Plan and Predict the Flight Path: http://www.habhub.org/predict We will Record Launch & Landing by Android GPS location Tracking procedure has yet to be determined. We would like to have Onboard GPS tracking of altitude & Lat/Long to website. Need ability to receive data from GPS satellites and transmit to tracking. Most GPS tracking devices do not operate as high as the stratosphere (or above 60K feet). GPS tracking tool may be supported by: http://www.byonics.com More research required. The idea is to have GPS telemetry downlinked via packet radio in APRS format http://aprs.org/ Spot Satellite Messenger/Tracker - It stops transmitting at 60K feet and restarts at 15K feet during descent. http://www.findmespot.com/en
The stratosphere is the second layer of the Earth's atmosphere. It is under the mesosphere and above the troposphere. The Kelvin SL-2061 will travel to about the desired 90,000 feet (17 miles). The temperature is about minus 50 degrees celsius (or minus 58 degrees fahrenheit) This environment is enough to stop batteries from working. Environmental control to keep the capsule warm will be done by the use of active coal chemical heat packs for example hand warmers or back warmers found at any major pharmacy store. Some examples of retail outlets are Walgreens, CVS, and Rightaid. To ensure payload power is maintained in this harsh environment, the Android device will have supplemental power via USB charger powered by Lithium AA batteries.
Active coal chemical heat pack ●
Hand or back warmers
Android Cell Phone (Prepaid) ● ●
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CAMERA: Using APP called "Time lapse Droid" GROUND GPS LOCATER: APPs: www.WheresMyDroid.com www.locatemydroid.com GPS tracking on ground (not in flight), Auto-ring for sound beacon USB phone charger that uses Lithium AA batteries
GPS Tracking (tools to be determined) ● ●
Byonics: Resources from Byonics - http://www.byonics.com/tinytrak/gps.php SPOT GPS Tracker - SPOT GPS Tracker - http://www.findmespot.com/en
Notify F.A.A. before launching with NOTAM (Notice To Airmen) by calling 1-800-WXBRIEF Federal Aviation Administration 800 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20591 1-866-TELL-FAA (1-866-835-5322)
(1) Launch early in morning on a sunny day with little or no wind. (2) Before launch predict landing via http://habhub.org/predict/ (3) Send recovery team to the assumed recovery site (4) Fill balloon with helium after launch decision is a "GO" (5) Start Android Time Lapse Camera and secure (6) Seal Payload Capsule (7) Via cell phone communication, announce launch to all support teams (8) Release SL-2061 for Launch.
Operation of Helium Filled Sound Balloon ● Each cubic foot of helium can lift 28 grams ● Free lift = amount of lift minus weight of payload/capsule ● Each pound of Free lift equates to 300 feet per minute ascent rate Example: 61 cubic feet of helium lifting payload of 800 grams would have 2 pounds of free lift. This makes the ascent rate 600 feet per minute. At 90K feet, the barometric pressure is lower so a 5' diameter balloon (1000 gram) would expand to 20' to 25' and explode resulting in decent and parachute deployment. The average ascent is 90 minutes and the descent is 30 minutes. Plan on a 2 to 3 hour flight with a launch early in the morning. Flight predicted before launch ● http://www.habhub.org/predict GPS Tracking ● Resources from Byonics - http://www.byonics.com/tinytrak/gps.php ● SPOT GPS Tracker - http://www.findmespot.com/en ● Andrioid GROUND tracking via apps www.WheresMyDroid.com www.locatemydroid.com
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Advance landing site determined by Prediction http://habhub.org/predict/
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Balloon bursts
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Parachute deploys
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Navigational Telemetry Tracking through GPS
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Recovery team acquires payload and vehicle
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Propose recovery team be Boy Scouts of America www.Scouting.org
http://nearsys.com/ http://makezine.com/24/weatherballoons/ http://space.1337arts.com/ https://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/187 http://hab-ham.org
You can see some thought and planning has gone into the SL-2061. More research, designing, and testing need to be done. With this presentation, you see that Kelvin Projects is serious about accomplishing the technical aspects of the project so that the charitable donation of a building to the Resurrection Center can be achieved.
Success of this project cannot be done by the volunteer efforts of Kelvin Projects alone. Volunteer participation and small financial donations will make this project possible. charity sponsorship and donations to the nonprofit company Ewen Prime Company will enable the purchase of the building for the Resurrection Center. All donations are tax deductible. It is the element of PEOPLE that will determine the success. Do you want to be part of the success story? Contact: David K. Ewen, M.Ed. Kelvin Projects â—? email: Kelvin.Projects@gmail.com â—? Phone: (413) 634-6024