Here's the Balloon Story
Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2003 12:04 am
Student researchers successfully launch, retrieve 'Elijah I'
GREEN BAY - Student scientists and engineers from three Wisconsin campuses successfully launched and retrieved Elijah I, a "satellite" they designed under a Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium program.
The six-member team of students from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Marquette University and the Milwaukee School of Engineering launched the high-altitude balloon shortly after 7 a.m. Monday (Aug. 11) at the UW-Eau Claire athletic fields.
The balloon reached a height of about 106,000 feet, a height considered to be at the "edge" of space. It was retrieved about three hours after launch in a bean field near Eyota, Minn.
Dr. R. Aileen Yingst, director of the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium, said the successful Elijah I mission laid the foundation for future student-designed satellite projects.
"This is the first step of what I believe will be a very successful student satellite program," Yingst said. "We're much more confident now to open up this opportunity to students to design science payloads and launch them."
The satellite project is one of the first to be funded through a $99,950 grant the Space Grant Consortium was awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The NASA grant supports student-designed satellites and satellite payload projects.
Students from universities across Wisconsin will compete later this year to obtain funding for satellite projects. Up to three projects will be approved for funding, according to Yingst.
The Space Grant Consortium, based at UW-Green Bay, has 24 members including colleges and universities, private businesses, state agencies, educational organizations and other groups.
Students involved in the Elijah I project were analyzing the payload's data Tuesday at Marquette University. The faculty adviser is Joe Majdalani, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering at Marquette.
The student team members are Shannon Smith, UW-Green Bay; Nicholas Beyer, Marquette University; Matthew Opgenorth, Marquette University; Eric Jacob, MSOE; Cara Piggott, MSOE; and Lee Sharping, MSOE.
Elijah I's payload included a Geographic Positioning System, a camera, other electronic equipment for tracking and retrieval, and smoke bombs that also helped track the satellite.
In July, the student team carried out a preliminary launch to test the integrity of the payload capsule. Though the instruments performed as expected, a glitch in the commercial computer software resulted in a loss of signal. That payload has not been retrieved. The students have asked the public to help find the missing payload, which apparently landed in Jackson County.
Yingst said the students learned important lessons from the July mission.
"It allowed the students to see where the chinks in the armor are," she said. "I still consider that first test to be 80 to 90 percent successful."
GREEN BAY - Student scientists and engineers from three Wisconsin campuses successfully launched and retrieved Elijah I, a "satellite" they designed under a Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium program.
The six-member team of students from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Marquette University and the Milwaukee School of Engineering launched the high-altitude balloon shortly after 7 a.m. Monday (Aug. 11) at the UW-Eau Claire athletic fields.
The balloon reached a height of about 106,000 feet, a height considered to be at the "edge" of space. It was retrieved about three hours after launch in a bean field near Eyota, Minn.
Dr. R. Aileen Yingst, director of the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium, said the successful Elijah I mission laid the foundation for future student-designed satellite projects.
"This is the first step of what I believe will be a very successful student satellite program," Yingst said. "We're much more confident now to open up this opportunity to students to design science payloads and launch them."
The satellite project is one of the first to be funded through a $99,950 grant the Space Grant Consortium was awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The NASA grant supports student-designed satellites and satellite payload projects.
Students from universities across Wisconsin will compete later this year to obtain funding for satellite projects. Up to three projects will be approved for funding, according to Yingst.
The Space Grant Consortium, based at UW-Green Bay, has 24 members including colleges and universities, private businesses, state agencies, educational organizations and other groups.
Students involved in the Elijah I project were analyzing the payload's data Tuesday at Marquette University. The faculty adviser is Joe Majdalani, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering at Marquette.
The student team members are Shannon Smith, UW-Green Bay; Nicholas Beyer, Marquette University; Matthew Opgenorth, Marquette University; Eric Jacob, MSOE; Cara Piggott, MSOE; and Lee Sharping, MSOE.
Elijah I's payload included a Geographic Positioning System, a camera, other electronic equipment for tracking and retrieval, and smoke bombs that also helped track the satellite.
In July, the student team carried out a preliminary launch to test the integrity of the payload capsule. Though the instruments performed as expected, a glitch in the commercial computer software resulted in a loss of signal. That payload has not been retrieved. The students have asked the public to help find the missing payload, which apparently landed in Jackson County.
Yingst said the students learned important lessons from the July mission.
"It allowed the students to see where the chinks in the armor are," she said. "I still consider that first test to be 80 to 90 percent successful."
