Our Pale Blue Dot bcpp2010

Let’s Build the First Cambodian Spaceship!!
Let’s Design the first Cambodian Spaceship!!!
Barcamp PP 2010
All photos are © edjez, OurPaleBlueDot project

Why?
Our planet is a small and life on it is fragile
By seeing the earth from outside, some people begin to appreciate things differently
Especially children
(and it’s fun!)

From Space…
There is no ‘them’, just ‘us’
You can see the place where every human that ever was alive spent his life
You can appreciate the totality of our natural resources
We can see the importance of thinking of the planet as a closed system

Closed System =
Finite resources
Nowhere else to throw trash
Nowhere else to farm land
Nowhere else to go conquer
Nowhere else to get resources from
No undo
Just us
Much of our society’s governance methods, planning capacities and maybe even our religions evolved in ‘open system’ mentality
We’ve reached the limit of that illusion

Perspective
The atmosphere of earth is thinner than the layer of paint on a football
All life on earth is in that thin layer

The atmosphere and our target
80 km
30 km

Don’t you need a rocket to go to space?
- Nah, with something like SpaceShipOne you are OK to touch space and fall back
So why do space programs use rockets?
- To develop enough speed for orbit, (to stay in space and not fall back down) you need a LOT of energy (many Kg of fuel per Kg of cargo!) – little planes are not enough
So…technically we won’t be reaching “Space” but it’s close enough for our goal!

Let’s get with the program

Analyzing a complex project
Risks
Architecture
Process
Helium Balloon lifting a box with cameras and GPS Trackers
Build system, test it, launch, go recover it
Anticipate problems and work around them

Architecture
Lift
Optics
Recovery
Climate Control
Balloon
Helium
Ropes
Picture Cam
- Memory
- Firmware
Video Cam
- Memory
- Batteries
APRS Tracker
- GPS Receiver
- GPS Antenna
- Beacon
- VHF Antenna
SPOT Tracker
Paint
Signs
Parachute
$ for reward
Hand Warmers
Safety
Parachute
Radar Reflector
Every Critical Subsystem must have two primary independent units

Schematics

Helium balloon – not Hydrogen!
Parachute
Small radar reflector
Laminated recovery note
Payload
Antenna
People

Important Parts - Tracking
APRS Tracker – Byonics MT8000FA
Primary tracking system
Fast (15s)
Lat/Long/Alt
Reliable range (6W transmission)
Many parts (risky electronics)
GPS Works above 30km (Lassen iQ)
Using ¼ wave Yagi antenna
SPOT Tracker
Backup tracking system
Slow (10m)
Unreliable (<50%)
No altitude reports
Doesn’t work above 7000mts
Doesn’t need GSM signal
Rugged, low batt usage
24 hs of tracking from launch
Reports to web only, use GeoChat to forward to SMS

Chase & Find!

Important Parts - Optics
2nd hand Canon camera
CHDK on 2nd partition of SD card
GOPro video camera
Many batteries
No case

“Ballooning” as a Hobby
Some have it as a hobby…
Weather scientists
Electronics
DIY – Do It Yourself
Playing with GPSs
Maps and imagery
Radio electronics, radio control, telemetry
“Extreme Geocaching” (your target falls from 30km!)
The fun –and tension- of the chase
You can develop it in your own direction
We do it to take pictures of the earth
Green? Risks with batteries & helium shortage biggest concerns. Use LiPolyrechargeables and in the future learn to safely do Hydrogen launches

Process
Plan
Build
PreLaunch
Launch
Recovery
Design
Materials
Team
Event
Schematics
Licenses
Risk Analysis
Assemble
Test
Curse
Assemble again
Test
….
Prediction
Permits
Plan & Schedule
Batteries
Memory
Travel
Checklists
Inflate
Assemble
Go/No-Go
Takeoff!
Chase
Maps
Vehicles
(car boat bike)
GPSs
GET NERVOUS
SEARCH & FIND

Risk Analysis
Risk Model:
Threat Prob(%) Impact (Hi/med/low) Mitigation
Use Risks to drive design & testing methods!!
Risks
Lens fogging
GPS fails
Radio Fails
Interference
Battery Dead
Lost Contact
Bad Roads
Payload Stolen
Camera freezes
Laptop Dies
Firmware dies
Balloon gets damaged, burst
Incorrect amount of helium
Helium or Hydrogen?
Weather gets bad
Water Landing
Inaccessible terrain
Parachute gets tangled
SPOT tracker dies
No cell signal
Lands on someone’s land
Batteries freeze
Shaky pics
Wind models wrong
Airplane runs into it
etc
Many industries use “Risk-Driven-Design” to build great products

Unique Cambodia Risks & Mitigations
Safety: Must land away from mined/UXO areas
Takeo has lowest statistics, << 1% of Cambodia’s accident statistics
All search people MUST have LM/UXO briefing
Road Conditions
Be patient and drive safely
SSCA and CATS Regulations
Avoid all class B…D airspace
Spend little time in class A
Build extended radar reflector for TACAS
Wide clearing from any national borders
Water landing: rice paddy, puddle or lake
Design a payload that can land in water
Inflatable boat
Boots. Change of clothes to get wet?
Weather changes faster
Good Luck, launch in morning

It’s an Experiment!
Many things not in our control
We may loose all the equipment
Problems may arise at inflation
But.. no reason not to try again later

Let’s do some work!

Need 3 Teams
Team 1: Design and Build a large and lightweight Radar Reflector
Team 2: Start assembly of payload encasing
Team 3: Localize Logistics

Radar ReflectorTCAS Onboard Air Collision Avoidance, large mylar, wire and graphite structure
Goal: Large (>1m2) radar-reflective 3D element

Payload Case
Goal: Present and prepare basic Payload structure
Easy to assemble and disassemble
Cameras are ‘stable’ in their position (no wiggle)
Thermal insulation compartment
Top ‘layer’ for GPS and SPOT tracker

Logistics
Goal: Khmer language and culture notes
Goal: Establish Launch and Land sites
Easy for folks to understand – even cartoons?
Clear instructions: Leave outside with view of sky, we will pick it up, reward offered
Safe, reachable spot. Discuss alternatives, propose top 2 with pros and cons

Need your Help!
Logo – what is the logo that we should give it?
Plan Launch to hit good land site (in Takeo?)
Need
Dolly
- Bedsheets to use as clean surface

What about launch?
Still arranging logistics
Expect the unexpected
Everyone is responsible for themselves and their family/friends
Be ready for many hours in the car!
edjez@ourpalebluedot.net

Thanks!

There are people dying of hunger in the world – isn’t space exploration a waste of precious resources?
Space exploration is almost nothing compared to defense spending, and minor when compared to profit of major potentially unsustainable industries… and smaller than major relief and aid efforts. IMO ROI is positive.
World Defense Spending
1100 Billion
Advertisement Spending
PEPFAR + GHI
BP Profit
420 B
60B
Smith/Glaxo/Kline Profit
60B
Monsanto Profit
20B
18 B
4B
Sources
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/spending.htm
http://facts.kff.org/chart.aspx?ch=1314
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Budget

Our Pale Blue Dot bcpp2010

by Eduardo Jezierski on Sep 30, 2010

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