FLIGHT RECAP OF EOSS-22

University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS) experimental flight.

LAUNCH DATE: 21-May-1995
LAUNCH SITE: Air Force Academy Parade Grounds
Launch coordinates:

• 39'00.56 N
• 104'52.90 W

Landing coordinates:

• 38 deg. 43.71' N
• 103 deg 21.88' W

Shuttle II FREQUENCIES:

• Telemetry:
  • 144.290 MHz FM (1 Watt output) - The Packet telemetry stream is in ax.25 format at 1200 baud and is readable in plain english for the most part. Included in each telemetry frame is an APRS position string (APRS users see note below). Every few minutes a CW ID is transmitted on this frequency.
• Beacon:
  
  • 147.520 MHz FM (250 milliWatt output) - Continuous CW ID
• ATV:
  
  • 439.250 MHz AM (1 Watt output) - Color NTSC video

• Pikes Peak FM Association 448.450 MHz
• Cross band Repeater on EOSS-23 (446.000 input, 147.555 output)

HF Net:

• 7.235 MHz KA0DPC Sparky will handle the HF net.

Two experiments were be flown.

A gas capture experiment to sample air below and above the thermal inversion that regularly resides above Colorado Springs. These samples were be obtained by using computer controlled, evacuated canisters. These canisters were recovered and the gasses they captured will be analyzed for their constituents.

Ozone was constantly monitored throughout the flight. This information was transmitted to the ground via telemetry channels in the EOSS "Shuttle II" where they were captured on computer for later analysis.

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Recap

The flight of EOSS-22 was a success. We obtained the air samples we were after, and the ozone experiment seemed to work without a hitch.

Preparations for this payload did cause some consternation but finally it began to behave and it was attached to the balloon's payload train.

In this picture you can see the UCCS payload attached directly below the EOSS Shuttle II (gold colored). Jack Crabtree is holding up the payload, while Melissa checks a few last minute items on the UCCS package. Andy Kellett is on the right checking out the WB4ETT beacon (147.520 MHz).

The weather conditions at launch were fantastic. Effectively, there were no winds to disturb the easily excitable RAVEN 119K cubit foot balloon.

Here, the balloon Lifts Off (15K bytes) flying straight into the air, or nearly so. It did drift a bit to the west causing those holding the various packages to burst into a brief sprint to keep the payloads from bouncing on the ground.

As the balloon Climbed Away (10K bytes) from the Air Force Parade Grounds, there was slow drift to the east.

The color ATV system was not operating up to expectations and was turned off early in the flight to conserve battery power.

Files

Telemetry throughout the flight was pretty good. The experiments were sending data down reliably however, the GPS receiver was giving us fits. You can download the full telemetry file by Clicking Here.