AEM1301: Ballooning: Design, Build, and Fly

Outer space, sometimes called the ?Final Frontier,? has always been difficult to reach due to the tremendous expense of rocket launches and the limited number of launch opportunities. In this hands-on course, we will hone ?amateur-spacecraft?-building skills including light-weight-but-rugged structural assembly, microcontroller programming, soldering, wiring, and CAD. Then we will design and build miniature spacecraft and use relatively-inexpensive helium-filled weather balloons to carry them into the stratosphere (AKA ?near-space?), which has many of the same physical properties (and view!) as outer space. The overarching theme for Fall 2022 payloads will be ?Preparing for eclipse ballooning missions(to be conducted during solar eclipses in October 2023 and April 2024).?The balloon launch and recovery will be a required day-long class activity on a weekend date in late October or early November. This activity is weather dependent, so the flight date will need to be flexible. A ?primary? date and several back-up dates will be announced at the start of the semester. After the balloon flight, the remainder of the semester will involve data analysis as well as discussions and activities relating to full-fledged (i.e. outer space) spaceflight, including scientific accomplishments and engineering challenges of past, current, and future space missions.

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