The capability to fly a balloon payload at a constant pressure altitude using a fixed-volume envelope has existed for decades. However, the fixed-volume envelopes are expensive relative to latex balloons for small payloads (less than or equal to 100 lbs). A capability to fly small packages at a constant GPS-referenced altitude using latex balloons has been developed at Iowa State University. The concept uses multiple balloons of differing sizes, GPS position data, and a ballast system. The hold altitude does not need to be determined pre-launch, allowing for holding at an altitude based upon in-situ sensor data in real time. The system has been flight tested and used for a research mission by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory through a contract with the University of Iowa. Although not an automated system, it has the potential to be automated at a future date.


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    Title :

    Geo-Referenced Altitude Hold for Latex Balloons


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    Eighth International Conference on Engineering, Construction, Operation, and Business In Space; Fifth International Conference and Exposition and Demonstration on Robotics for Challenging Situations and Environments ; 2002 ; Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States


    Published in:

    Publication date :

    2002-06-07




    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




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