There was a disappointing end this summer to a Walsall school's Near Space project, when contact was lost with a hydrogen-filled balloon which students hoped would beat the altitude from which Felix Baumgartner jumped for his world-record freefall in 2012.
Pupils from Queen Mary's Grammar School had launched three probes over the course of the summer - 'Gagarin', 'Armstrong' and 'Hadfield', all featuring flight computers and payloads built by the pupils themselves. The latter two probes were designed for high altitude flight. After the school's second mission had reached 38,915m, only 130m short of Baumgartner's mark, hopes were high that it would be third time lucky for 'Hadfield', named after the Canadian ISS astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield.
The launch in July took place in clear, calm conditions (pictured below), and although the balloon's ascent was slower than normal there was nothing to suggest there was anything amiss. However, radio contact with the balloon was lost during the afternoon. Despite numerous attempts to locate 'Hadfield', no further signal was received from the probe. Its last recorded radio transmission was at 16km above Husbands Bosworth in Leicestershire.
Analysis of the flight computer's logged data showed that satellite connections had dropped before it stopped transmitting, leading the team to conclude that the freezing temperatures in the atmosphere had affected the batteries and cut power to the GPS.
Although disappointed, the QMGS team could look back with pride on their achievements over the year. As well as building a lighter flight computer, worked safely with hydrogen and successfully launching, tracking and recovering two probes, the pupils generated considerable publicity for the 'Beat Felix' project, including messages of support from astronauts, ministers, TV presenters and space organisations. The team were particularly proud of a
congratulatory tweet from UK astronaut Major Tim Peake.
Rapid was among the many sponsors of the project, donating electrical equipment that was used to help build the flight computer and radio tracking device.
Teacher Adam Coghlan leads the Near Space project at the school and has been delighted with the way the project has had an inspiring influence. "The demand from the pupils has also galvanised teachers," said Mr Coghlan. "We are talking about turning aspects of the project into rich STEM activities to illustrate ideas in the current curriculum. The Science Department have started running a trip out to the European Space Agency and Design and Technology are looking at widening their skill set and introducing a course on robotics and sensors."
Now in its third year, the Horizon project has embarked on its new challenge. "Sun Chaser" will see team members developing a mathematical model to predict the time at which the sun will appear over the Earth's curvature, and to capture this moment by launching a probe into Near Space with an onboard camera.
http://horizon.qmgs.walsall.sch.uk