EuropeanEuropeanUltra-light to Heavy-lift Ultra-light to Heavy-lift Stratospheric Balloons Stratospheric Balloons

in the Polar Regionsin the Polar Regions

Svalbard - NorwaySvalbard - Norway

&&

Baia Terra Nova - AntarcticaBaia Terra Nova - Antarctica

The Idea…The Idea…

Develop a program in the northern Develop a program in the northern polar region for Long Duration polar region for Long Duration Ballooning – take the project to Ballooning – take the project to AntarcticaAntarctica

Introduce science and Introduce science and technological payloads… small technological payloads… small platforms < 25kgplatforms < 25kg

Bring students into the programBring students into the program

Location, location, location!Location, location, location!

Over-fly minimal population yet retain a Over-fly minimal population yet retain a recovery zone. This is a given for recovery zone. This is a given for Antarctica…but rare in the north.Antarctica…but rare in the north.

Impact area that would cause the Impact area that would cause the minimal environmental damage. Impact minimal environmental damage. Impact and recovery in the tundra leaves and recovery in the tundra leaves scars. The Greenland Ice Sheet offers a scars. The Greenland Ice Sheet offers a perfect target.perfect target.

In theory, a stratospheric balloon launched from Svalbard, Norway should be carried

around the polar region and return back over Svalbard…continue on, and be terminated

over Greenland.

AND IN REALITYAND IN REALITY

THE PERFECT CIRCLE…ALMOST!First complete circumpolar trajectory - North

Launched - June 14th, 2006Greenland

Svalbard

Impact – July 1st, 2006

17 DAY FLIGHT

34km

Ballast Drop

ALTITUDE vs TIME

Stratospheric Winds…Stratospheric Winds…

Through Satellite Derived Wind Data we Through Satellite Derived Wind Data we know that the circulation pattern should be know that the circulation pattern should be “set-up” to support a circumpolar trajectory “set-up” to support a circumpolar trajectory by the first week of June.by the first week of June.

A model of the wind predictions was A model of the wind predictions was constructed…Cardillo/Musso – ISTI/CNR constructed…Cardillo/Musso – ISTI/CNR The model and the actual flight path The model and the actual flight path coincide.coincide.

Wind Prediction – May 30thWind Prediction – May 30th

The PayloadThe Payload

Telemetry – IRIDIUM, ARGOS (Elta)Telemetry – IRIDIUM, ARGOS (Elta)Power supply – SOLARPower supply – SOLARScience – Magnetometer (INGV)… X-RAY Science – Magnetometer (INGV)… X-RAY

Detector ( Student Experiment - University Detector ( Student Experiment - University of Tromso, NO)of Tromso, NO)

TELEMETRY & MAGNETOMETER BUILT BY INGV (Rome)…Gianni Romeo

Installing scientific instruments on a pathfinder offers the opportunity of exploring Polar Regions at an affordable cost.

PEGASO hosts a 3-axis flux-gate magnetometer and is a complete flying geomagnetic observatory for studying geomagnetic crustal anomalies at continental scale as well as stratospheric circulation.

PEGASO offers:

•Solar power•Local data storage•Bi-directional link to the ground station•Ballasting and termination control

featuresfeatures

0 200 400 600 800 1000

0,0

0,2

0,4

0,6

0,8

1,0

A

Y A

xis

T

itle

X axis title

Cylindrical Cylindrical solar arraysolar array

Solar cells are manufactured by depositing multiple layers of silicon alloy materials onto a thin stainless steel substrate

The array is composed by very long single cells going trough the whole cylinder surface. During the flight they are lit always in the same way, for a good performance.

Illumination over the plane representation of the cylindrical array

System symmetry and flying area guarantee a constant illumination during the flight. This simplifies the charge control (no MPPT)

Solar Solar arrayarray

Solar cells are manufactured by depositing Solar cells are manufactured by depositing multiple layers of silicon alloy materials onto a multiple layers of silicon alloy materials onto a thin stainless steel substrate in a patented thin stainless steel substrate in a patented roll-to-roll production process. roll-to-roll production process.

The cell assembly is laminated (sealed) in The cell assembly is laminated (sealed) in flexible and durable weather resistant flexible and durable weather resistant polymers that provide long life, high reliability. polymers that provide long life, high reliability. Bypass diodes are connected across each Bypass diodes are connected across each cell to produce shadow tolerance cell to produce shadow tolerance performance.performance.

The resulting solar cells are processed and The resulting solar cells are processed and connected in series to provide the required connected in series to provide the required voltage. voltage.

Eleven cells are connected in series to Eleven cells are connected in series to produce the required voltage for 12 volt produce the required voltage for 12 volt battery charging. battery charging.

I2

I1

I3

I2

I1

I3

Partial illumination power lossPartial illumination power loss

Communication: WhyCommunication: Why IRIDIUM ?IRIDIUM ?

Low cost and good data rate where mandatory in this project.

Point to point telemetry is difficult in polar areas, requiring too many ground stations;

traditional satellite low-cost telemetry, ARGOS, is low data rate and is downlink only. Iridium is more expensive, more heavy and more complex (not more than an usual telephonic AT modem) but offers a bidiretional telemetry a good coverage in polar areas and a reasonable data rate

• 66 satellites (6 orbiting spares) a 780 km• 100 minutes revolution period• Communication to ground users 1616..1625 MHz • satellite-satellite communication 23.18-23.38 GHZ• satellite-ground communication 19.4..19.2 GHz • Ground-satellite communication 29.1-29.3 GHz• Digital channel speed 2400 bps

Iridium constellationIridium constellation

Phone used in PEGASOPhone used in PEGASO

Ordinary Iridium phones offer both acoustic and data communication (for just 1.5 Euro/min). The complexity of the ground station is shown below: just a notebook and an Iridium phone with a data kit.

How to build your own telemetry How to build your own telemetry systemsystem

Setting up a working Iridium data link is not much more difficult than building an ordinary point-to-point connection: it is just necessary to take in account the transmission delay and operate the right choice of packets length (time is money).

computer Datakit

Datakit computer

1.6 GHz 1.6 GHz

23 GHz

satellitesrs232 rs232

rs232

rs232

rs232

Digital

I/O

RCM2000 main processor

Solar array

Charge controller

battery

Low battery switch

power supply

adc board

Panels temperature

Panels voltage

Panels current

Battery voltage

Vessel temperature

Arm temperature

IRIDIUMdata kit

IRIDIUM phone antenna

Level adapter Main processor monitor

Data monitor

on-off phone

8 channels igniter driver

To and from igniters

rs232

GPS receiver

scientific adc

antenna

PEGASO block diagramPEGASO block diagram

3 channels magnetometerMagnetometerhead

U1

U2.1

U2.2

U2.3

U3

U4

U5

U6

U0

Boards descriptionU0 : IRIDIUM TelephoneU1 : CPU and GPS ReceiverU2.1: Flux Gate (Ch1)U2.2: Flux Gate (Ch2)U2.3: Flux Gate (Ch3)U3 : ADC boardU4 : power supplyU5 : charge controllerU6 : igniters driver and tester

Battery

GPS Antenna

IRIDUM Antenna

Temperature sensor

Panels connector

Ballast / Release connector

Testing connector

Flux Gate Magn. conn.

Boards70

cm

10 cm

Mechanical assembly

PEGASO layoutPEGASO layout

workingworking

Ground station at INGVGround station at INGV

Linux PC LAN

Local storage

Web server

GSM modem

•Communication with 4 balloons•Data available via web server•Status via SMS•Workstations via VPN

modem

Ballast releasingBallast releasing

Ballast tube may be remotely operated during the flight. Pictures on the right show the effect of the releasing on the altitude.

Flight SystemFlight System

Balloon – AeroStar, SF3-0.327-.6/0-TA Balloon – AeroStar, SF3-0.327-.6/0-TA 9258 m9258 m³³

Parachute – 40 kg ratingParachute – 40 kg ratingTerminate – Redundant squibsTerminate – Redundant squibsARGOS Transmitter – On balloon used for ARGOS Transmitter – On balloon used for

tracking during flight and terminationtracking during flight and terminationRadar Reflectors – 2Radar Reflectors – 2Meets International Rules of the AirMeets International Rules of the Air

PREPARING THE PAYLOAD

LAUNCHLAUNCH

ASCENT…

Ultra-Light PayloadsUltra-Light Payloads

Great Vehicle for technological testingGreat Vehicle for technological testingGreat Vehicle for science component Great Vehicle for science component

testingtestingLow cost Low cost Easy to transport equipmentEasy to transport equipmentLaunch from nearly any location – airport, Launch from nearly any location – airport,

sports field, roadway, etc.sports field, roadway, etc.Complete Recovery…nothing left behindComplete Recovery…nothing left behind

Students and Ultra-Lite payloadsStudents and Ultra-Lite payloads

Affordable for most organizationsAffordable for most organizationsHands on experienceHands on experience Involvement in all aspects of the programInvolvement in all aspects of the programStepping stone to future involvement in Stepping stone to future involvement in

ballooning.ballooning.

Baia Terra Nova - AntarcticaBaia Terra Nova - Antarctica

Ultra-Lite Balloon launchesUltra-Lite Balloon launchesKnown trajectory patternKnown trajectory patternRecovery optionsRecovery optionsJanuary 2006 launched the first PEGASO January 2006 launched the first PEGASO

experiment from BTN.experiment from BTN.

TRAJECTORIES OVER ANTARCTICA – NSF/NASA

Ultra-Light systems help to teach students the Ultra-Light systems help to teach students the various aspects of ballooningvarious aspects of ballooning

LDB with ultra-light systems is a cost efficient LDB with ultra-light systems is a cost efficient way to reach near space for testing purposes.way to reach near space for testing purposes.

Ultra-Light Payloads lead to Heavy-Lift Ultra-Light Payloads lead to Heavy-Lift Payloads... Payloads...

Like the forthcoming OLIMPO and Like the forthcoming OLIMPO and BOOMERanG, to be flown from Svalbards next BOOMERanG, to be flown from Svalbards next yearyear

OLIMPO(http://oberon.roma1.infn.it/olimpo)

An arcmin-resolution survey of the sky

at mm and sub-mm wavelengths

Silvia Masi Dipartimento di Fisica

La Sapienza, Roma

and

the OLIMPO team

30’

CMB anisotropy SZ clusters Galaxies

mm-wave sky vs OLIMPO arrays

150 GHz 220 GHz 340 GHz 540 GHz

OLIMPO observations of a SZ Cluster• Simulated observation of

a SZ cluster at 2 mm with the Olimpo array.

• The large scale signals are CMB anisotropy.

• The cluster is the dark spot evident in the middle of the figure.

• Parameters of this observation: scans at 1o/s, amplitude of the scans 3op-p, detector noise 150 mK s1/2, 1/f knee = 0.1 Hz, total observing time = 4 hours, comptonization parameter for the cluster y=10-4. 3o

3o

The uniqueness of OLIMPO• OLIMPO measures in

4 frequency bands simultaneously. These bands optimally sample the spectrum of the SZ effect.

• This allows us to clean the signal from any dust and CMB contamination, and even to measure Te by means of the relativistic corrections.

0 200 400 600 800-4.0x10

-4

-2.0x10-4

0.0

2.0x10-4

4.0x10-4

6.0x10-4

600410240150

7keV 10keV 15keV 20keV

I (

mJy

/sr)

(GHz)

BOOMERanG

28/Dec/1998

06/Jan/2003

BOOMERanG

• B98 results: First resolved map of the CMB at sub-horizon scales

• Flatness of the Universe

• See de Bernardis et al. 2000, Netterfield et al. 2002, Ruhl et al. 2003

• B03 results: detection of CMB polarization (E-modes)

• See Masi et al. 2005, Montroy et al. 2005, Piacentini et al 2005

BOOMERanG-FG• We plan to re-fly B03 with an upgraded

forcal plane, to go after foreground cirrus dust polarization.

• This information is essential for all the planned B-modes experiments (e.g. BICEP, Dome-C etc.) and is very difficult to measure from ground.

• The BOOMERanG optics can host an array of >100 PSB at >350 GHz.

140 GHzPSB

240 GHz340 GHz

340 GHzPSB

140 GHzPSB

BOOMERanG-03

BOOMERanG-FG

Frequency range complementary to PILOT (higher f. J.F. Bernard, Toulouse)

270o 270o

180o 180o

90o 90o

0o

ISM is everywhere ! With Boom-FG we will study the polarization properties in the clean

region in the northern hemisphere

Dust brightness @ 3000 GHz (log scale)

North south

B03

EuropeanEuropeanUltra-light to Heavy-lift Ultra-light to Heavy-lift

Stratospheric Balloons in the Stratospheric Balloons in the Polar RegionsPolar Regions

In summary, In summary,

a Svalbard-based facility provides a unique a Svalbard-based facility provides a unique opportunity for long duration flights, to be used for opportunity for long duration flights, to be used for didactic/outreach light experiments, as well as for didactic/outreach light experiments, as well as for

heavy science payloads.heavy science payloads.

The same know-how will be used for launches from The same know-how will be used for launches from Antarctica.Antarctica.