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Stratofox Aerospace Tracking Team presentation at Space Access 2013
Stratofox Aerospace Tracking Team specializes in the search and recovery of high-altitude rockets and balloons, helping various organizations achieve their aerospace project goals. Established in 2002, the team has significant experience with successful recoveries at sites like Black Rock Desert and has set altitude records for amateur rocketry and ballooning. Stratofox is a non-profit organization that actively recruits skilled members to support its mission, emphasizing teamwork and expertise in aerospace-related fields.
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Stratofox Aerospace Tracking Team presentation at Space Access 2013
- 1. Stratofox Aerospace Tracking Team Presented by Ian Kluft Space Access 2013 Conference Phoenix, Arizona April 11, 2013
- 2. Stratofox Aerospace Tracking Team z The goal: You launch it. We bring it back.
- 3. Stratofox Aerospace Tracking Team We help builders of high-altitude rockets and balloons with search and recovery of their vehicles Stratofox provides search services either As the whole search team Or adding to an existing search team
- 4. About Stratofox In additionto helping with the search... Stratofox aims to assist in getting amateur, non- profit, educational and entrepreneurial aerospace projects off the ground We make no secret that we're trying to get invitations for our members to “all the cool launches”
- 5. What does Stratofoxstand for? The name Stratofox stands for “stratospheric foxhunt” Stratosphere: layer of atmosphere 8-25 miles Foxhunt: Ham Radio hidden-transmitter hunt games No one can tell you where they hid it It fell from the sky - most difficult hidden transmitter Challenging environment for electronics Cold, vibration Rockets have to deal with heat too
- 6. Who is Stratofox? 65members About a dozen founding members in 2002 We have done searches for rockets at Nevada's Black Rock Desert and balloons all over Central California Can happen anywhere that team members go Members have experience in Ham Radio, aviation, high-power rocketry, 4x4, astronomy, search & rescue, etc.
- 7. Stratofox History How we got here
- 8. Highlights Recovered CSXT SpaceShot 2004 at Black Rock Desert NV, first amateur rocket to space Range Safety & search functions for CSXT, Paragon Labs, AeroPac at Black Rock Recovered research balloons for Stanford University and NASA Ames Recovered lost payload at Black Rock NV for Soka University of Japan Recovered CNSP-10 balloon minutes after landing from altitude record 136,545' flight
- 9. Highlights Stratofox has the distinction of recovering vehicles that set altitude records for Amateur Rocketry and Amateur Radio Ballooning CSXT Space Shot - May 2004: 380,000' (still holds this record) CNSP-10 balloon - Oct 2011: 136,545'
- 10. CSXT Space Shot2004 Stratofox recovers the spacecraft Launch 5/17/2004 11:12AM Electronics recovered by noon next day Altitude 72 miles/115 km 18 miles from launch pad In mountains at 6100'
- 11. CSXT Space Shot2004 Stratofox recovers the spacecraft Radio direction finding for secondary beacon attached to parachute Found it at 6100' elevation after very strenuous hike around noon on May 18 Stratofox group picture: Will Galloway AE6EY, Ian Kluft KO6YQ, Jeremy Cooper KE6JJJ, Sean Lynch KG6CVV, Randy Palmer WA6LCD, Steve Palmer KA6DHU and Rob Palmer. Not shown: Diane Palmer KC6HVP, Christian Void KF6IHU, Colleen Brennan and Jay Lawson.
- 12. Search for missingCSXT booster Amazing detective story! No signals heard from the booster after descent - presumed lost In July 2004, CSXT analysis of Stratofox audio recording of sonic boom indicated booster's parachute was deployed on re-entry Ground searches were done in August Early winter cut searches
- 13. Missing CSXT boosterrecovered November 2004 Nov 10 - BLM chartered helicopter doing survey of wild horses finds the booster near where we had searched Nov 15 - BLM notifies CSXT and Stratofox Nov 26 – Stratofox 4x4 expedition in mud/snow recovers the booster hours before a snowstorm Video is on YouTube
- 14. Stratofox recovers CSXT booster Booster lost radio transmitters on re-entry recovered 6 months later
- 15. Eric Knight's “New Race to Space” book Published Jan 2011 Eric was CSXT Avionics team leader Story of CSXT's all- volunteer space shot Many mentions of Stratofox Eric made enormous effort to credit all volunteers thenewracetospace.com
- 16. Black Rock DesertExpertise Stratofox is familiar w/ topography, airspace and safety issues of Black Rock Desert NV We helped CSXT and Paragon meet FAA space launch requirements in 2003-2005 UC Boulder's HySOR project found federal launch ranges to be budget busters Choosing Black Rock and bringing Stratofox on board solved that problem
- 17. Paragon Astronautics 4 rocket launches 2003-2005 Helped with searches Helped with range safety to meet FAA launch requirements Stratofox's first find as a team in 2003 was at a Paragon test launch at Black Rock
- 18. AeroPac To100K 3rocket launches 2005-2006 Rocket club at Black Rock wanted to reach 100,000' with commercial motors for hobbyists. 3 attempts by club. 1St stages worked. Nd 2 stages crashed. Goal was achieved by members of the club, but not by this rocket.
- 19. Stanford/NASA BioLaunch 8 balloons 2007-2008 NASA-funded balloon experiments exposed DNA samples to solar radiation Stratofox supported balloon searches alongside Stanford students & professor Stratofox supported with air & ground search, communications and safety coordination Stanford was so confident in Stratofox that B07E/F and B08A/B were flown in simultaneous pairs B07A Jan 2007 near Some Stanford students liked the hunt Gilroy, California and joined Stratofox
- 20. Stanford/NASA BioLaunch B07C May2007 near B07F Dec 2007 near B08A Mar 2008 near Tracy, California Los Banos, California Merced, California
- 21. Soka University CanSatSearch 1 missing payload 2009 AeroPac asked for help to find Soka Univ (Japan) payload lost at Black Rock in 2009 Dead transmitter Worse odds than a needle in a haystack Stratofox drew up 2x2 mile search area Found it!
- 22. California Near SpaceProject balloons 2010-present Balloons launched from San Jose, California Many attempts at Amateur Radio balloon altitude record Successful altitude record-setting flight Oct 2011 CNSP-10 – 136,545' altitude record Pushing the limits of what experts thought was possible with standard/cheap latex balloons
- 23. CNSP-10 altitude record Oct 23, 2011 Launched from South San Jose, CA Record setting altitude 136,545' over Tracy, CA Tumbling payload sent no packets during fall Landed in backyard in Manteca, CA CNSP and Stratofox got visual on falling balloon payload from different locations Stratofox got 1 APRS packet after landing Knocked on door before resident knew about it
- 24. CNSP-10 altitude record Oct 23, 2011 Stratofox crew with CNSP-10 at landing site Manteca, California
- 25. CNSP-10 altitude record Oct 23, 2011 Bay Area NBC11 studio interview with Ron & Ian
- 26. CNSP-11/12/13/14 launch Dec 11, 2011 CNSP launched 4 balloons at once on Dec 11 CNSP-13 & -14 for altitude, launched before sunset CNSP-11 & -12 as distance floater experiments Stratofox went immediately to chase 13 & 14 11 & 12 tried to replicate Nov 2010 Utah flight Goal was at least to get them to Colorado this time Launched at sunset for minimal UV degradation Not expected to last the day after sunrise
- 27. What about CNSP-12/13/14? 13& 14 altitude attempts lost GPS lock 3 Stratofox vehicles chased as far as Mariposa, CA GPS receivers froze in cold above 125,000' We found that BeeLines transmit 109,373' upon loss of GPS lock – unfortunate choice of error code Stratofox verified reception from balloons still in flight when APRS.FI showed no new data Settled debate: night altitude attempts not feasible 12 cruised at 120,000' landed in a tree in Freedom, Indiana
- 28. CNSP-11 “The littleballoon that could” Slowest to climb to altitude Seemed at first to be a failure “Just right” fill turned out to be key to endurance Leveled off at 110,000', ground speed 150mph For 2½ days! Crossed US mainland, out to sea over Atlantic City NJ Awesome help from Hams: Azores, Portugal, Spain Hams changed from European APRS 144.8 to US 144.39 to forward tracking data to APRS-IS network Burst and splashdown in Mediterranean Sea
- 29. CNSP-11 world recordsset Amateur Radio ballooning records First US transcontinental flight First transatlantic flight Duration: 57 hours, 2 minutes Duration record re-taken by Cornell Univ in Mar 2012 Distance: 6236 miles from San Jose launch site great circle distance, not ground track Records maintained at arhab.org Not absolute records – univ/govt projects have done more at vastly greater expense
- 30. CNSP-11 distance/duration recordDec 11-14, 2011 Map of CNSP-11 flight from APRS.FI
- 31. CNSP-11 distance/duration record Dec 11-14 Ron Meadows K6RPT has made efforts to thank all volunteers involved in the CNSP balloons. This includes Hams on both sides of the Atlantic, and the Azores Islands. He considers them part of the California Near Space Project team.
- 32. Could this bedone again? CNSP was only trying to reach Colorado with CNSP-11 and CNSP-12 It was an unintentional transatlantic crossing! Cornell Univ re-took duration record in March, but still failed to cross Atlantic from Upstate NY Transatlantic flight tough even from East Coast! CNSP tried again with CNSP-18 If it worked, this time it would be intentional.
- 33. CNSP-18 transatlantic attempt Waitedfor long nights, good winds aloft Long nights minimize solar degradation of latex Winds aloft in Stratosphere, well above jet stream Meteorologist Mark Conner N9XTN said go! More northern route estimated this time Launch Usual CNSP launch site in south San Jose, CA after sunset Sun Dec 2, 2012
- 34. CNSP-18 over US& Canada Receiving direct signals gives “ground truth” to verify Internet telemetry is catching everything Launch site watched from San Jose until Sierras I received packets from Mojave while balloon went from over Sierras to Zion NP in UT We confirmed GPS signal lock was weaker than expected Some recurring dropouts Possible interference by GPS's heater New addition to prevent GPS dying in cold nights
- 35. CNSP-18 over US& Canada Level at 110,000' just like CNSP-11 Flight continued over Denver, Chicago, Maine Out to sea over Nova Scotia Hams in Newfoundland tracked it 400 miles out Then nothing... Storm over Azores: Tropical Depression 91L Frequent lightning possible cause for concern Unknown what Sprites do to stratospheric balloons
- 36. CNSP-18 over US& Canada Imagery by California Near Space Project
- 37. CNSP-18 reaches Morocco After22 hours of no telemetry, got to Morocco We call it the “22 hours of terror” Landed 100mi inland, north of Taza, Morocco Telemetry over Morocco relayed by Hams in Spain Recovered by farmer the same morning CNSP-18 confirmed CNSP-11 was no fluke 2nd transcontinental flight 2nd transatlantic flight 2nd place distance: 6,080.4 great circle miles 6,080.40 miles
- 38. CNSP-18 transatlantic success Imageryby California Near Space Project
- 39. Joining Stratofox Can youhelp the team? We're always recruiting.
- 40. If you're interestedin Stratofox Stratofox is admittedly picky about new membership We have to keep the group trustworthy – our clients may be competitors of each other We have to be trusted by all parties There is no room for spectators in the deep desert – everyone has to “carry their own weight” out there Potential new members need to have a useful skill
- 41. Useful skills formembership Any of these, the more the better Primary skills Secondary skills Private Pilot or better Astronomy Amateur Radio license Navigation, GPS & maps High-power rocketry cert 4x4/off-roading Search & Rescue Electronics or Aerospace Engineering Emergency medical training (WFR, EMT) Logistical planning Got something else you think is useful? Ask!
- 42. How to JoinStratofox Be ready to participate – no spectators Have a useful skill Amateur radio license, pilot license, high-power rocketry, 4x4, navigation, First Aid/CPR, etc Get referred by a Stratofox member Participate in an event Get voted in based on your participation http://stratofox.org/join
- 43. Upcoming events California NearSpace Project balloon usually short notice when winds aloft are good Univ of Colorado at Boulder HySOR suborbital sounding rocket Black Rock Desert, Spring 2014 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Icarus III sounding rocket Black Rock Desert, no current status Mars Society TEMPO3 research balloon Colorado, no current status
- 44. Non-profit organization Stratofox ispart of a 501(c)3 non-profit Out-of-pocket expenses may be tax deductible Donations are tax deductible http://stratofox.org/
- 45. The end Photo: Stratofoxground crew Pilot: Ben Woodard KG6FNK gives the shutdown signal to Ground: Owen DeLong KB6MER search plane pilot at AeroPac Note: ground crew giving signals to pilots must be pilots too To100K in September 2005