GM_counter_updated.JPG (193885Bytes)
This is one of our projects for the Google Lunar X Prize. We will launch a 2 m diameter hydrogen weather balloon coming Saturday nearby Nanjing, China. The payload consists of 3 webcams, motherboard, 2W-WLAN amplifier, λ-¼-antenna, sensor board with pressure and temperature sensor, battery monitoring and tracking device, Geiger counter to measure the cosmic radiation, GPS, 11.2V LiPo battery with 5000 mAh, voltage regulator board.
λ-¼-antenna, cameras and LiPo battery:
CPU, 2W-WLAN amplifier, GPS:
Sensor board:
Geiger counter board:
We will have a real-time downlink of all 3 cameras as well as the sensor data. The frame of the ground antenna is made of a umbrella:
One camera points downwards, one camera points to the horizon, one camera upwards to capture the expansion and explosion of the balloon.
OS of the motherboard is Linux, the program for the sensor board is written in C.
I have also attached an updated circuit diagram of the Geiger counter. Due to some "dirty peaks", a low pass filter (R9 and C4) became necessary if connected to a micro controller.
Update 2010.9.18
Weather balloon launch postponed to September 19 due to software problems. Conducted tests at the launch site. The weather balloon launch personnel were concerned that we would need two of their ballons to lift our payload. There was no basis for this concern.
The picture below shows the balloon and payload hanging on a rope of 60m:
Update 2010.9.19
Due to a few unexpected and lingering software problems, we postponed the balloon launch again. Sensor data and GPS data were transmitted well, but the video packets were not. Even my colleague Mattias who worked for 2 days and nights on this problem could not solve the problem. We will announce a new launch schedule soon.
TBC
