Project HALO (High-Altitude Lift-Off): SL-1
Third Attempt: Post-Attempt HAL5 Press Release (Text Version - Historical)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 19, 1997
Primary Contact: Greg Allison
HAL5 Project HALO Program Manager
(Evening Phone: 205-859-5538)
Secondary Contact: Ronnie Lajoie
HAL5 Project HALO Logistics Coordinator
(Day Phone: 205-461-3064)
NSS Headquarters Contact: Karen Rugg
National Space Society, Washington, DC
(Day Phone: 202-543-1900)
SPACE GROUP MAKES AMATEUR AND HYBRID ROCKETRY HISTORY ON MAY 11
At 8:25 AM EDT, on a record cold Mother's Day morning on Sunday,
May 11, a small group of space enthusiasts made amateur rocketry
history by launching the first amateur rocket from a high altitude
balloon, a concept known as a "rockoon". The group, the Huntsville
Alabama L5 Society (HAL5), a chapter of the grassroots National Space
Society (NSS), also made history for "professional" hybrid rocketry
by becoming the first group of any kind to launch a hybrid rocket
from high altitude. The balloon was launched from a coastal site in
North Carolina, staying true to the state's motto of "First in Flight".
With an estimated apogee altitude between 30 and 36 nautical miles for
the rocket, HAL5 now holds claim to the world record for the highest
altitude achieved by an amateur rocket, and also by a hybrid rocket.
The previous record for an amateur rocket was about 100,000 feet set
by a group from Vermont (or perhaps 66,000 feet set by Ky Michaelson).
The previous record for a hybrid rocket was set on January 8, when a
NASA-industry team sent a nitrous-oxide and HTPB-rubber hybrid sounding
rocket from the ground to 119,780 feet. An apogee altitude of 36
nautical miles is 14 short of the US-defined space border, thus HAL5
has yet to achieve its secondary goal of getting the first amateur
rocket into space.
HAL5 had spent the past three years developing and testing components
for its "rockoon", which is a rocket that is launched from a high
altitude balloon. The rockoon approach allows a small rocket to
obtain a very high altitude because there is little air to slow it
down during launch.
A rocket launched at 100,000 feet is above 99% of the atmosphere;
therefore it is subjected to only 1% of the drag that a similar
ground based launch would experience. A rocket launched at high
altitude can also operate much more efficiently, because there is
less back pressure on the nozzle exit to oppose the rocket thrust.
This translates to a higher thrust for a given amount of fuel
consumed per second, a term in rocketry known as “specific impulse”.
In lay terms it is analogous to a car’s miles per gallon.
Rockoons were first flown by James Van Allen in the 1950's. HAL5
has updated the rockoon concept using 1990's amateur rocketry and
electronics technology. HAL5's goal is to make space more
affordable for students, amateurs, experimenters, and researchers.
The HAL5 program, started in July of 1994, is called Project HALO,
for High Altitude Lift-Off.
The HALO rocket utilizes hybrid propulsion, whereby an inert
solid fuel is kept safely away from a liquid oxidizer until the
rocket is ignited. The solid fuel used for the HALO rocket is
pure asphalt, the same material used on streets and roofs. The
liquid oxidizer used for the rocket is nitrous-oxide, the same
"laughing gas" used by dentists.
The HALO Space Launch 1 rocket was launched at 60,000 feet from a
large high-altitude helium balloon made of clear polyethylene plastic
over 100 feet long, but thinner than a sandwich bag (only 0.35 mils
thick). At its design altitude of about 130,000 feet, the balloon,
which has a volumetric capacity of 141,000 cubic-feet, would have
expanded to 65 feet in diameter.
Due to concerns about the weather for early Saturday, May 10, and
given FAA approval for Monday, HAL5 had decided to delay the second
attempt of Space Launch 1 until Sunday, May 11. It was worth the
wait. Sunday morning was perfectly calm, albeit cold, and the balloon
launch could not have been better. "Picture perfect" as photographs
published in the Wilmington Morning Star will attest. A slight delay
caused by some empty helium bottles resulted in a launch at 6:59 AM EDT.
The FAA had graciously allowed us to extend our window until 7:05 AM.
Wind carried the balloon from its launchpoint in Hampstead, North
Carolina (about 20 miles north of Wilmington) about 110 nautical miles
to the east as it rose at an increasing ascent rate from 600 to 700
feet per minute. At the time of the rocket launch at 8:25 AM, the
balloon was safely over open ocean and well away from land.
The balloon gondola carried an amateur television (ATV) camera and
transmitted live color video back to earth at a frequency of 434 Mhz.
The camera was oriented so that it looked straight up past the side
of the gondola towards the balloon. The rocket carried a smaller
black and white ATV camera transmitting at 1280 MHz, GPS receiver,
and transmitter.
At 8:25 AM, the balloon was at about 60,000 feet altitude when it
suddenly opened along a seam line. This was not supposed to happen,
even at altitude, as the bottom of the balloon is open to allow
helium to vent when necessary. We are still analyzing the video to
determine what happened and will be sending a copy to the balloon
manufacturer to get their expert advise. With the rocket well clear
of land, and well out over international waters, a decision was
quickly made to send the command to fire the rocket.
Gondola video was fine throughout the mission and clearly showed
the rocket launching past the deflated balloon -- confirming a near
vertical launch for the rocket as planned. The color video shows a
brillant flash from the rocket exhaust followed by an expanding cloud
of plastic bits leftover from the plastic wrap. The rest of the
gondola appeared intact. The cut-down squibs were fired by remote
command shortly afterwards to release the gondola from the balloon
and to deploy the gondola parachute.
Altitude verification for the rocket was to be primarily based on
signals from an onboard GPS receiver. GPS transmissions faded away,
however, while the balloon was only at 30,000 feet. Backup altitude
verification was to have come from the B&W camera, which was oriented
so that the curvature of the Earth can be measured to estimate the
altitude. The rocket video transmissions lasted longer, but also
faded away before the rocket reached apogee. The team is confident
that the onboard electronics operated properly, but the antennas
used were not oriented well or large enough for the signal to reach
out past 100 miles.
The balloon was estimated to be between 53,000 and 60,000 feet high
when the rocket was launched. Computer simulations of the rocket for a
near vertical flight then predict an apogee altitude between 30 and 36
nautical miles. Analysis of available data and video is still being
performed to determine the altitude and distance reached. Without the
GPS transmission, HAL5 has no direct measure of rocket apogee altitude.
HAL5 would be most grateful to anyone tracking the balloon and/or rocket
by radar, by radio transmissions, or with optical telescopes to send us
a copy of your data and conclusions.
The balloon gondola and rocket both splashed down far out in the
Atlantic Ocean, well out of reach of our recovery boat. It is
possible that they will wash up on shore some day in some country.
Rewards and acknowledgment will go to whomever recovers the balloon
gondola and/or rocket. If you find either one, please take
photographs and make notes of its condition where you find it (on
the beach or in the ocean) before picking it up.
The entire Project HALO team deserves our heartiest congratulations
for a job very well done! They definitely proved how "professional"
an "amateur" organization can be. The standard has now been
established and the foundation of the pathway for amateur access to
space has been laid -- with asphalt!
HAL5 would like to thank the many members of its Project HALO team,
including its temporary on-site volunteers, for successfully
conducting this enormous volunteer effort. We would also like to
thank the entire memberships of HAL5 and NSS for their support for
the last three years. We would also like to thank the people of
Hampstead, Topsail, Wilmington, Rocky Mount, Cerro Gordo, and
Whiteville, North Carolina for their fine hospitality, encouragement,
and support during this mission and the during the previous attempt
on March 22, especially landowners Benny Godwin and Cary Bruton.
Finally, HAL5 would like to thank the members of the press who came
out on very cold mornings to help spread the word about our history
making endeavor, and for understanding the nature of technical and
weather delays.
For more details, please see the following HALO web site at:
http://advicom.net/~hal5/HALO/SL-1/
This information can also be requested by sending an E-mail message
to "hal5@advicom.net" or by calling one of the contacts listed.
Press Kits are still available on the Web site in various formats.
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