Advisor: Mr. Kaplo
When: One meeting per week, sometimes twice

Description: This group develops new technologies for the purpose of high altitude, edge-of-space, ballooning missions. In year's past the group has set local ballooning altitude records with scientific payloads reaching over 112,000 feet. This year's group is working on the third attempt at a trans-Atlantic flight on a new type of balloon called "zero-pressure". The team aims to use onboard ballast that gets automatically jettisoned to trim flight at a targeted 40K ft in the jet stream where air current speeds are highest. The goal is to float a balloon all the way to EU airspace by precise insertion into the jet stream and maintaining 40K ft for at least 48 hours. The ballast management system is completely designed by students and 3D printed using WHS resources. The flight computer will be Arduino-based and entirely programmed by students. One of the new core technologies for 2019-2020 is the use of Iridium telemetry, which is a LEO satellite constellation which will accommodate in-flight tracking and two-way communication with the payload throughout the flight over the Atlantic. Previous missions have relied on HAM radio, which is dependent on terrestrial ground stations which become impossible to reach with low power radios over the Atlantic and result in communication blackouts or dead zones.

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