When I was in grade school, one of my heroes was (and still is) Dr. Robert H. Goddard. I dreamed then of building a rocket and reaching the moon by the year 2000. I had even conspired with a friend, whose father was a high school chemistry teacher, on obtaining things like liquid hydrogen and oxygen. Well, 2000 came and went, and no rocket, obviously. But near space exploration with balloons is certainly within reach. It's currently being done by groups around the world. With my interests in amateur radio (lofting an amateur television package), and measurement and detection, I would very much like to get involved in designing a science package. With all of those unique and brutal conditions at the edge of space (temperature, pressure, radiation, to name a few) to detect and record, comes the exciting prospect of doing amateur science work. This page will cover ideas for design, and hopefully, in the future, working payloads. Some of my ideas include the following:
Temperature Sensor
My temperature sensor of choice is the LM335AZ. But it is only rated down to -40 degrees F, while near space can reach -60 to -90 degrees F. I already am planning to build a detector using a thermocouple (rated down to -328 degrees F) for experiments with extreme cold (See Diana) and will need a sensor capable of measuring it (two birds, one stone).
Ionization detector
I plan to modify a design, as shown in the September 1999 Amateur Scientist column of Scientific American.
Photometer
I will either use LEDs as detectors, or IC sensors such as the TLS230 (with colored filters) or the TCS230.
Radiation Detector
My goal is both detecting events and measuring energy. A geiger counter only detects events. To measure energy would require some sort of variable shield in front of the tube. A thicker shield would mean only higher energy particles could be detected. Or I could use a detector that is capable of measuring energy, such as a scintillator-photomultipler tube combo.
Acceleration
I would like to use a three-axis accelerometer module to measure motion (such as rotation or rate of ascent / descent).
