BLAST balloon launch at AMS

By Bobby Horn Jr.

news@casscountynow.com

It is one thing to read about math and science in books but to experience it, in person, takes the learning to a new level.

That is what Atlanta Middle School students experienced April 14 when they witnessed the launch of a high-altitude weather balloon.

The balloon was part of a hands-on exercise conducted by students in the BLAST program.

For the past seven weeks Jerry Goodson, an amateur radio instructor, has been teaching students about ham or amateur radio. Through the radio curriculum four of the students will soon be able to take their Technician exam to become licensed amateur radio operators.

Amanda Bickham, BLAST coordinator, said that ½ of the curriculum dealt with hands-on activities with the other half dealing with preparation for the written test. For four days a week the students have been preparing for the day’s experiment.

The experiment, she said, involved attaching a high-altitude balloon to a box containing weather-monitoring equipment and a GoPro video camera. The balloon was then registered so that its movement could be tracked through Google Maps. Students were given a special URL so that they could see not only the path that the balloon was taking, but also its altitude and speed.

“The ‘hands-on’ exercise of the class is the launch of a high-altitude balloon that will take weather measurements such as temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure and transmit them to us here on the ground,” Goodson said. “The balloon is expected to reach altitudes over 100,000 feet and travel to around Bastrop or Monroe, Louisiana.  As soon as the balloon is launched, my family and I will hit the road to track and recover the payload.”

Goodson said that once the balloon pops, the parachute attached to the payload should bring it safely to ground. “I hope it doesn’t land in the water because I don’t feel like swimming,” he joked.

Over the course of the balloon’s flight it reached a speed of more than 70 miles per hour.

While the path was projected in a southeasterly direction, the air currents had a different idea. After leaving Texas it passed over Arkansas into Louisiana. After crossing Highway 3, it turned north again. At two hours and 15 minutes after launch it broke the 100,000-foot altitude mark over Arkansas, where it continued to climb to 105,276 feet. By comparison Mt. Everest, the tallest mountain in the world, comes in at 29,000 feet.

The payload, or box containing the monitoring equipment, weighed less than 2.2 pounds. Goodson said that had it weighed 2.2 pounds or one kilogram or more the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had additional requirements for the balloon including a second cutoff.

One of the unique aspects of the balloon is its flexibility. When launched the balloon was around 6-feet in diameter. As it reached its top altitude, the barometric pressure would cause it to increase to 35-feet in diameter.

“The exercise was code named ‘The Icarus Mission,’ and the payload was given the code name "Lepus," which is Latin for ‘rabbit.’  Why? Because we are the rabbits,” Goodson said.

This was the first time that the exercise has been held. Goodson said that he hoped to continue it year after year, with next year’s project being named Icarus 2.

The project team was led by Mission Commander Isaiah Henderson, who gave the countdown. Team members were Cody Goodson, Caleb James, Jeremiah Jefferson, Ahmontae Butterfield, Dylan Goodson and Kyle Goodson.

The launch was experienced by more than just the mission team. Principal Jay Wylie has the entire school come out to witness the event. “You watching science happen with your very eyes,” Wylie told the students. District Superintendent Sidney Harrist, who also attended the event, said that he was very impressed with the efforts of the students.

While the aviation experience may be new to the students, it was certainly not new to Jerry.

His mother, Connie Wise, who is a charter member of the Radio Amateur’s of Cass County, said that when Jerry was younger he and his brothers would hang out at the Atlanta Airport where they would try to get free rides from the pilots. “They (the pilots) used to call them the Airport Bums,” she said with a laugh.