This project describes how to build your own unmanned stratospheric balloon.



Flight path (Google Earth):


Balloon design

The flight system consists of a latex meteorological atmosphere sounding balloon, designed to burst at a particular altitude, a woven nylon load line connected to the parachute, and the payload - an environmentally rugged case containing avionics, communication systems, cameras and experiments.

Stratospheric balloon parameters:

- Reached altitude of 28.818km (94550ft) AMSL
- Lasted 1hr 42min
- Travelled 23.85km (14.8 miles)
- Distance from launch site to landing site: 6.54km (4 miles)
- Took 250 photographs with two cameras (side-looking and down-looking)
- Was recovered 45 minutes after landing
- The payload received no damage whatsoever
- Payload weight: 2.8kg (6.17 lbs)
- Average ascent rate: 5.5m/s (18 ft/s)

See http://moo.pl/~tygrys/balloon/ for full version.