LDBFocusAreas

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LDB Solution Focus Areas

These are tasks, or issues that have not been satisfactorily solved by others. It also includes standard to-do for any balloon effort. and would result in progress toward successful LDB flight. All solutions must take standard factors and optimization into account - weight, power, and the law. This list is not inclusive, it is meant merely to start people thinking about the most relevant problems.

  • shedding excess batteries and no-longer needed equipment as last resort ballast
  • no temperature data exists to quantify the internal balloon solar heating effect, and thus it cannot be predicted properly, resulting in a large unknown in the ballast calculations for sunset drop.
  • lightweight rapid-attachment of the payloads to the load line - this is a serious problem that results in far more duct tape and knotted nets of rope than should be. every ounce of weight counts! This also caused significant launch delays for SNOX flights.
  • A GPS simulator is needed, outputting NMEA or appropriate binary format data, that has a good UI to pre-program in entire world-wide flight paths of lat/lon/alt, with time acceleration. This must be able to connect to hardware GPS port on flight computer
  • a cryogenic dry ice test chamber must be built to maintain -60C for up to 72 hours, and possibly be able to be programmed with a temperature profile simulating day/night cycling. must be big enough to hold both payload containers simultaneously
  • telemetry system must be evaluated and selected
  • self balloon manufacturing feasibility should be investigated
  • Balloons should be ground-tested, fully inflated, for 72 hours permeability - no data exists on this
  • new ZP balloon vent design must be made to replace floppy hose
  • lift gas h2 should be evaluated to determine what procedures are needed to operate safely
  • payload and ballast containers need to be designed and built, with aim of shedding weight during the mission, without adding much weight.
  • lightweight insulation needs to be found
  • software for flight computer will need to be written
  • algorithms for ballast control will need to be researched, compared, and improved