 Note: Back in March, GPS City sponsored Project Viking, a physics project headed by high school senior Stephen Pretto. Project Viking involved a high-altitude balloon launch that used the SPOT 2 GPS Messenger to track the balloon's location. Below, Stephen shares the group's experience.
"Project Viking is a series of low-cost, near-space flight platforms designed to take pictures of the earth from altitudes of up to 95,000 feet. Designed by a team of high school students, the project was an attempt to push down the cost of aerial photography. The first iteration of the project, Viking I, was launched on March 28, 2011, in Henderson, Nevada. The flight lasted 3 hours and covered over 100 miles, landing just north of Peach Springs, Arizona."
"Physics student Stephen Pretto began the project in November 2010, inspired by previous low-cost balloon flights such as MIT's Project Icarus. Responsible for much of the project's development, Pretto's research investigated every aspect about putting the idea to work. In February 2011, the other two members of the team joined: Andrew Campling and Jake Sikes. After months of careful planning, Viking I was almost ready for launch. However, one problem remained: getting the camera back at the end. Pretto's first idea of using cellphone GPS wouldn't work because the balloon would likely land where there is no cellphone reception. The team decided to contact GPS City, who sponsored the project with a satellite GPS tracker and helped monitor it during the flight. After waiting for exactly the right weather conditions, the launch date arrived at the end of March 2011."
"The team launched the balloon from Pretto's front yard in southern Henderson. After driving out to Boulder City, the team stopped to track the flight trajectory. The scariest moment of the project occurred when the GPS stopped giving out coordinates for almost an hour; however, some time later it sent out two more signals on its descent, landing north of Peach Springs, Arizona. The team made the drive out to northern Arizona, relying on maps as there was no cell phone service. While they did not find Viking I that day, after returning they contacted Hualapai Tribal Police at Peach Springs with the coordinates. An officer retrieved the balloon on a dirt bike soon after. The team received the payload and the pictures on April 2nd, finding nearly 3000 images on the intact camera." |
