LIVE WEBCAM ON THE MOON FOR THE WORLD TO SEE

It is a coincidence that the Red Bull high altitude launch is occurring the same month as my HAB launch! I have not gone into much depth on the complexity of this launch but after getting approval to launch a rocket into space by using a high altitude balloon as a platform, I am ready to do that. The HAB will close the distance dramatically and create the ability for a small scale rocket to gain orbit. Thousands of dollars later and a multitude of time invested, the system is ready to be launch and remotely controlled to intercept the moon. We will then have a live feed of the moon for the world to see. I want to create an interest in space for everyone and that is what created my conviction to see this through. I will have a link for a live feed posted on this blog October 31st weather permitting. 

Weather map before high altitude balloon launch December 11th 2010

This is a weather map depicting the giant storm moving from the west cost and swirling Northwest up through Michigan. This is what carried our weather balloon into Canada over the course of a couple hours! This storm developed and pushed across the United States over the course of two days ending  on December 11th 2010

Target Number One

Balloon Launch

Although delayed, we will be working on this project more intensely over the next two months. I have just recently been in contact with someone at U of M that has significant information on their high altitude balloon and nano-satellite program.

Supplies are on their way!

Supplies for the next launch are on their way and I will update when everything arrives. We are trying a new balloon type with a burst diameter of 30 feet. We will be using three of these balloons and I will be putting together a diagram of a new design to both record high definition video and stream low quality video. If you have any ideas for low draw communication with the probe feel free to post. Thanks!

The sky is not the limit

The opportunities are endless and some of the things that can come from attaining equilibrium is energy! At the height we are planning on attaining bringing solar panels almost out of our atmosphere would increase the output ten fold and allow to possibly use wireless energy "when more refined" to beam it back to earth. This would bring valuable energy to places on the planet where it is difficult or nearly impossible to route energy. This does not necessarily have to be done by wireless energy the way your ipod charges on a platform but more so is the possibilities of lasers beaming the energy back to earth. It would be much more efficient to actually have these solar panels in orbit and direct the energy back to the earth via laser. Depending on many different variables this could solve our energy crisis eliminating any need for fossil fuels. I believe this is where our energy is going to be derived from in the long term. The ability to have energy directed to a precise location such as a factory, home or even a car one day!

EQUILIBRIUM

Attaining equilibrium is a very difficult task and is almost impossible to maintain that equilibrium over a long period of time. One of the ways to do this is by somehow gathering water and realizing it through condensing. I am unsure of the amount of water (if any) at that altitude. This would be one of the best ways so far to regulate the weight but is a more complex than I prefer. Another way is to fix the probe with much more lifting ability and balance that extra lifting ability with small lead pellets that can be released on command. To bring the probe to the desired height four of the balloons will be fitted with an electronic release valve to adjust the pressure of the balloon slowing its assent to a point of equilibrium and when the balloon starts to descend the lead is slowly released. This will work for a short period of time but eventually it will loose all of its lifting ability. We are looking into a low energy way to produce and pressurize our own hydrogen making the probe completely self contained.

Funding

My brother and I have taken a break while working on our space project. The fall semester of college has started and finally things have settled down. I will be attempting to request funding from the university of Michigan to help expand our operations.

Supplies

We are currently researching the best way to communicate with the weather balloon. We were utilizing cell phone technology for our first prototypes but it will not be enough for our next launch. The possibilities that we are looking at is more complicated but it involves using a small version of a computer motherboard, radio signal, gps chip, digital camera designed to stream and put out a low quality video while recording on a chip with HD video "hopefully recoverable but if not we will have the low quality streaming video." The power consumption is significantly higher than our prototypes before but we will have the ability to record much more information than before while streaming video. This system will also be able to preform many more technical operations and will allow us to accomplish other tasks such as attaining equilibrium for a sustained period of time. 

One of the more technical goals we have is to attain pro-longed equilibrium while controlling the elevation of the balloon. This is possible in a few different ways but the best way is to control the water weight of a type of ballast tank. By condensing water we can control the weight of the balloon and therefore control the height. We are still working on the best way to condense water with little to no energy consumption. Other things that would work is to have pre-loaded weight on the balloon that we can release as the balloons loose their ability to lift, "such as releasing small lead weights." This will not be nearly as controllable as the ability to add weight to the balloons and if one mistake is made and the balloon keeps to increase in elevation the project would fail when the balloon would eventually burst.

Tentative Plan

It is a very ambitions plan to put a probe on the surface of the moon before the end of the year but is very possible. Our first step is to perfect a high altitude launch. We have fallen many times in designing a working high altitude balloon and while the idea has been around for many years we have modified it through trial and error. The advantages are endless when it comes to launching a conventional rocket at an altitude of aprox 30 miles. 

First of all the balloon can not be the cheap weather balloons you see on ebay... they will pop at about 12,000 feet and have a payload capacity 3 oz and have an extremely low bursting diameter.  We are using professional weather balloons that are designed for the thinner air and colder temperature. Typically these balloons are used individually having one balloon with a single payload but we will be attaching 8-10 balloons depending on the weight. 

With the weight being distributed to multiple balloons the amount of helium or hydrogen can be decreased. By having 15% of the potential space used in the balloon we have that much more room for it to expand!

ROCKET TO THE MOON

I will be covering the progress of Rehmann Enterprises excursion to space. The goal of our research and experimentation is to successfully place a probe on the moon. We are two brothers that have grown restless of the slow pace of NASA along with the cost to fund simple projects. We already have successfully launched one probe 6 miles into the atmosphere tracking its every move. I will be recording each step of the process in this blog from start to finish, day by day. We are on a limited budget and are aiming on having a probe on its way to the moon before the end of this year, 2011. Please feel free to let me know if you would like to be involved with any part of this project, we are open to any and all ideas. This is going to change the way space is viewed finally bringing a piece of our universe to every person on the planet!