NearSys Flight 10G

The seventh flight of the year was launched Halooween morning form the Univeristy of Kansas. The mission as a practice for future KU flights next semester for the AE360 class, Introduction to Astronautics. The near spacecraft reaches an altitude of 98,500 feet according to the last GPS position report. Looking over the video, the near spacecraft made another 1,000 feet before the balloon burst, so it was closer to 99,000 feet. The flight was uneventful, until landing. The near spacecraft recovered in a tree too high for us to climb. It took three hours to get everything back. Next time, I'm bringing tree gear, like spikes and an expanding aluminum pole. Wings would be helpful, also.

Mission NearSys 10F

The sixth mission of 2010 for NearSys (and 83rd overall) took place 16 October 2010. Launch was from Indian Hills elementary school at 9:00 AM. Present were meteorology and physics students from Washburn University. The physics club designed the BalloonSat carried on this mission. The flight reached an altitude of 88,469 feet and was observed bursting from the ground at our stop in east Lawrence. I put together a short video that includes this film clip of the burst.

The Washburn BalloonSat carried a flight computer, weather station, and camera. Here's one of the photographs they recorded.

Napier's Bones Part 2

After seeing how students multiply multiple digit numbers by the lattice method, I was reminded of Napier’s Bones. John Napier (1550-1617) developed this tool for increasing the speed and accuracy of multiplications. His Napier’s Bones consisted of rectangular rods inside a board, or frame. On each rod, or bone, is written the multiplication of a single digit by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. Each number is written within a square divided by a diagonal line. Each tens digit is above the diagonal line and the ones digit is written below the diagonal line. The left side of the board is divided into squares marked with the digit 1 through 9. The squares on the side of the board are the same size as the squares on the bones. In fact, the fifth square on the left side of the board aligns with the fifth square in any bone. And that particular bone’s square has the value for five times the value of the bone. Since I have an interest in Baroque science, I decided to make my own set of bones.

This bone is for 9 and you can see it has written on it (starting from the top and working our way done) 9, 18, 27, 36, 45, 54, 63, 72, and 81. The best way to see how Napier ’s Bones are used is to work an example. So let’s multiply 25,806 by 79. You’ll need a sheet of paper and pencil to write the intermediate results.

First, load the bones for 25,806 into the board as shown below.

Now, we’ll first multiply 25,806 by 9 by reading off the sum of two digits in every diagonal formed by the numbers in the bones.

The product from multiplying 25,806 by 9 is read across the bones at the nine level of the board. Look on the left side of the board for the 9 and then start reading off numbers beginning on the right side and working your way to the left. First is the 4 all by itself in the lower right-hand corner. There is no other digit in its diagonal, so there is no other digit to add to 4, therefore just write a digit 4 on a sheet of paper.

Now move over to the next diagonal to the left, which contains 5 and 0 (0 is at its lower left of the 5). So add the 0 and the 5 to get 5. Write 5 to the left of the 4 you wrote first on the paper. You will have now written on your paper, 54

Now move over to the next diagonal to the left which contains the digits 0 and 2. Add these two digits together to get 2 and then write the digit 2 to the left of the 45 already written on the paper. You have 254 written on the paper now.

In the next diagonal as the digits 5 and 7. So add these two digits to get 12. Only write the 2 on the paper, the 1 (in the ten’s place) will be carried to the next diagonal. On your paper is now written 2254.

The next diagonal has the digits 4 and 8. Add those together and don’t forget to add the 1 carried from the previous diagonal. The result is 4 + 8 + 1, or 13. Again, only write the digit in the one’s place (a 2) on the paper (on the left side of the number you’ve written so far) and save the ten’s digit (a 1) so it can be carried to the next diagonal. The result on the paper so far is 32254.

The last diagonal is like the first diagonal in that there is only one digit. However, since the previous diagonal resulted in a carry, we’ll need to add that 1 to the 1 in this diagonal to get 2. Write 2 as the last digit on the paper. The result on the paper up to now is 232254. The number, 232,254 is the product of 25,805 X 9. Easy, wasn’t it?

In my next blog posting, we’ll add the product of 25,806 X 7. However, if you remember you multiplication, you know we’re going to write a 0 in the next line below the 232254 we’ve written so far and then add the digits for the product of 25,806 X 7.

Napier’s Bones Project

After seeing how students multiply multiple digit numbers by the lattice method, I was reminded of Napier’s Bones. John Napier (1550-1617) developed this tool for increasing the speed and accuracy of multiplications. His Napier’s Bones consisted of rectangular rods inside a board, or frame. On each rod, or bone, is written the multiplication of a single digit by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. Each number is written within a square divided by a diagonal line. Each tens digit is above the diagonal line and the ones digit is written below the diagonal line. The left side of the board is divided into squares marked with the digit 1 through 9. The squares on the side of the board are the same size as the squares on the bones. In fact, the fifth square on the left side of the board aligns with the fifth square in any bone. And that particular bone’s square has the value for five times the value of the bone. Since I have an interest in Baroque science, I decided to make my own set of bones.

Tomorrow I'll bring pictures and directions. Meanwhile, here is the link where I learned how to use them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napier's_bones

NearSys UltraLight Flight Computer

The first NearSys flight computer is now ready for purchase. The flight computer is programmed in BASIC and centered around the PICAXE-28X. The UltraLight has four analog channels, three digtal channels, two servo ports, and two camera ports. This means the UltraLight can record the analog values of four sensors, operate three digital devices including Geiger counters, control two servos, and operate two cameras. The flight computer has 32k of memory for storing mission data.

After building the UltraLight kit, you just ned to plug in a GPS receiver to be ready for flight. The flight computer contains a transmitter, TinyTrak based TNC, and a SMA antenna connector (the kit includes the cable and wire to make an antenna).

The UltraLight also includes a control panel that mounts to the near spacecraft airframe. The control panel permits the flight computer to be programmed without opening the airframe. The control panel has three power switches for main power, servo power, and audio beacon. The third switch powers up the audio beacon. the 90n dB piezo buzzer helps recovery crews locate the near spacecraft when it lands in tall grass of trees. Using a seperate battery pack for the servos insures that a bad servo can't ruin the science mission. The control panel also includes a Commit Pin that allows you to power up the near spacecraft long before launch without wasting memory recording data on the ground.

Additional information will appear on the NearSys website shortly (Nearsys.com/catalog).

Astrophotogaphy with a Digital Camera

I've been using a FinePix S7000 to make astronomic images from Topeka. Most of my images are of Jupiter and its four major satellites for an astronomy/physics lab I'd like to write (I hope to create an activity book of astronomy with this and other lab exercises). Last night, after photographing Jupiter, I used my planetarium program to identify the satellites in the image. I found out that the planet Uranus was just above Jupiter and upon checking my image, i realize I recorded the planet.

The picture was five seconds long with a zoom of six power (optical zoom, not digital). I'll keep photographing the planets to monitor the motions between them and the fixed stars.

BalloonSat Extreme

NearSys introduces the BalloonSat Extreme. This is one of the largest BalloonSat flight computers. At its heart is the BASIC Stamp 2 (the BS2pe is recommended), so it is powerful and easy to program.

The flight computer has an eight-channel analog port with 12-bits of resolution for sensors like weather stations. There is a five-channel digital port with connections directly to the BS2 for sensors like Geiger counters. Unlike other BalloonSat flight computers, the BalloonSat Extreme has a GPS Port to allow your BalloonSat to monitor and record GPS reports (like altitude and time). The flight computer can operate three cameras. The cameras can ones with modified shutter buttons or be Canon cameras running the CHDK USB remote program. The flight computer can also control three servos. The servos have a seperate power supply to prevent a bad servo from draining the main power supply.

Part of the BalloonSat Extreme kit is its Control Panel, a seperate printed circuit board. The Control Panel allows you to power up the flight computer without opening the BalloonSat. Two LEDs indicate power is available for the flight computer and the servos. Finally, there is a Commit Pin that allows the BalloonSat to be powered up long before launch. When ready for lift-off, pull the Commit Pin and the flight computer will begin recording data.

The entire kit is only $48. Check it out and its directions and sample code at, http://nearsys.com/catalog/balloonsat/extreme.htm