2013 Clark Magnet High School Balloon Project - PANTHER 2

On April 28, 2013, five students from Clark Magnet High School launched a near-space balloon, labeled the Panther 2, from Acton, California.



Filling the Balloon

This venture was a joint project between two 12th grade students, Guy Burstein and Alex Deravanessian, for their Clark senior project, and three 11th grade students, Christopher Pereira, Saikiran Ramanan, and Matej Zampach as their project in the Advanced Engineering class at Clark Magnet High School.

The team, consisting of these five students and three mentors, left Clark Magnet High School at around 9:30 AM on Sunday. Upon reaching Acton, the team worked on filling their balloon with enough helium to provide around 13 pounds of force upwards and getting the payload on the Panther 2 ready to go. Around 12:10 PM, the team launched their balloon, lifting an approximately 6 pound payload to near space, ultimately to a maximum height 85,000 feet (over 16 miles high).

The payload consisted of:
  • 3 Go-Pro Cameras
    • One positioned down, in respect to the payload, taking video
    • One positioned down, in respect to the payload, taking still images
    • One attached to a "boom" on the payload, positioned towards the balloon itself, taking video
  • One Arduino micro-controller for data logging, with custom-student build circuits including a:
    • 3-Axis accelerometer
    • 3-Axis magnetometer
    • Solar Panel
    • Carbon Monoxide reader
  • One Trackduino micro-processor used to transmit LIVE location data and temperature reading to APRS
  • One SPOT module, also transmitting live location data, used to track down the payload



Panther 2
Payload of Panther 2
The team then rushed back to Clark to figure out where the balloon was going. The students earlier predicted the balloon's path and figured out that the approximate landing area would be in the Crescenta Valley. During it's flight, however, the balloon prematurely ruptured, sending Panther 2 into an unexpected location. The data received via the APRS transmitter was minimal due to the remote location over which it was flying. Thankfully, the backup locator worked and Panther 2 was located in the Angeles National Forest.


Landing Location
Before landing, Panther 2 was able to take this image of it's surroundings

  Luckily, the Panther 2 landed near the intersection of Angeles Forest Highway and Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road. The team spotted the shiny payload on the side of a mountain and was successfully able to retrieve it.

Over the next several weeks, students will be analyzing the photos, videos, and over 5000 samples of scientific data logged onboard to perform studies on the balloon's performance, and environmental studies on atmospheric conditions and recovery of the Angeles National Forest after the devastating 2009 Station Fire. Photos and video will be compared from last year's flight over the same region to understand the impact of Southern California drought conditions on recovery of the Station Fire burn area in the Angeles National Forest. Readings from an onboard carbon monoxide sensor will be used to determine if smog from the Greater Los Angeles area is found over the Angeles National Forest at higher altitudes. Acceleration data will be used to improve the descent characteristics of next year's planned launch of the Panther 3.



2013 Balloon Team
From right to left: David Black (Mentor), Dan Clause (Mentor), Chris Pereira (Junior), Mat Zampach (Junior), Guy Burstein (Senior), Alex Dervanessian (Senior), (Behind) Todd Black (Mentor), Saikiran Ramanan (Junior)


Liftoff
Picture taken by Panther 2 just after balloon was released. Note you can see the team on the lower left hand corner


Crescenta Valley
Clear aerial shot of Crescenta Valley all the way down to the coast


Angeles National Forest
Beautiful shot of the Angeles National Forest