Icarus III Launch 1
There will be the first launch of Icarus III this weekend.
Launch EARS @ 09:00 UTC
A logo for the Icarus Project
Italian designer Ruben Frosali kindly designed a logo for the Icarus Project.
Ruben is based in Japan and works as a freelance designer and is based in Japan.
Icarus II Launch 6 – Ash Cloud Observation Attempt
Well this turned out to be a failure. The power save feature on the camera activated before launch and the a camera turned itself off before launch. So no pictures payload 
.
However on a slightly more positive note Neil managed to video the balloon from launch to burst which is a first for the UK High Altitude Balloon group.
A poem by Elvis McGonagall
Flight of Fancy
Tethered to earth by gravity’s guy-ropes
Trudging out from primordial sludge
Sleepwalking down the years in deep-sea divers’ boots
Nose to the grindstone we endlessly drudge
Oh would that we could fly like Icarus (but without his wings of wax)
To ascend unto the heavens like a beautiful balloon
Up, up and away above the cloud-capp’d steeples
Oh to soar above the sun and put a girdle round the moon
To hover over stars as bees to flowers in a garden
To clutch the floating firmament in outstretched hand
To drift like thistledown across the boundless universe
To see the world as a tiny grain of sand
To behold the bigger picture, to watch our planet fade from view
To wonder why we keep its petty pace
A bright blue spinning dot in a kaleidoscope
Lost in time and space
To feel how flimsy is the fabric of Man’s pageant
How slight every worry, every grievance, every care
To realise that “Wayne’s Sprained Ankle Pain” will not be front page news
on Mars
To hear each passing frenzy’s empty echo in the air
Then to gently drop deflated from such dizzy, giddy heights
Back with a bump to our daily, earthbound strife
To know we can but only laugh at this glorious, cosmic joke
And breathe in deep this fleeting moment we call life
by Elvis McGonagall for “BBC Radio 4 Saturday Live” 3/4/2010
Iñaki Docio – Panorama
Here is some amazing work done by Iñaki Docio with the images from Icarus II Launch 3.
The picture below shows The Thames esturay going into the channel. On the bottom left you can see France on the other side of the channel.
Click on the image to view in a new window at it's original size.
Media Interest
I seem to have got a bit of interest from the media over the last few days.
I'm glad everyone enjoyed the pictures and video.
Pictures can found here on flickr
Please let me know where you read about this project ideally by leaving a comment below or emailing me see contact details menu
Icarus III Payload Construction
Get the payload the right way around
Thoughts on picture sequence.
Launch Button
Pyro Cutdown & Parachute Deployment
Landing
World record altitude attempt
Launched Icarus II on its 5th mission to make an attempt for an altitude world record, sponsored by The Sun Newspaper as part of their 40th Anniversary celebrations. Unfortunately this attempt was unsuccessful due to extremely strong winds causing the balloon to burst early though some good pictures and video were recovered.
The landing was mildly interesting due to it being 15 meters up a tree.
Welcome …
May 2009
26 May : Did duration test on on camera. 8 pics and 2min video every 5 mins = 8 hrs
Sorting out payload cut-down using smokeless powder Alliant 2330 (Nitro Cellulose based).
24 May : Did a successful launch with Steve Randall (AKA Rocket Boy). Testing the new distributed listener client. Things to do before next launch.
- Fix erroneous data using some logic checks.
- Make a magmount for the G3 antenna.
- Add an additional balloon chute to keep waste away.
12 May : Only spent an hour on Icarus tonight! Added the external temperature sensor to the flight computer. Reduced the GPS antenna cable from 5m to about 30cm to allow it to fit cleanly to the top of the paylaod.
Outstanding jobs to do before launch
- Secure TX antenna to prevent pulling on the connector attached the PCB board
- Make 1/4 wave GP antenna DONE
- Duration test (camera and payload)
- Construct string cradle for payload
- Flip the pins in the code to get the correct temp. sensors.DONE
7 May : Knocked up a 1Hz oscillator connected to a transmitter to act as a location beacon for the next launch. This will be placed in a container with it's own power source enclosed. If there is a system failure with the main board then the payload may still be recovered using fox hunting practices.
5 May : Toasted my second Lassen iQ today due to a mono filament of wire shorting between VCC and 3.3v track sending 6v into the iQ. It smoked a little and smells horrible! Replace iQ and the rest of the system seems to be working just fine. Typical! How unlucky can you be! Will get some balsa wood to go on the back of the PCB to prevent this happening again. Perhaps SMD components would have prevented this.
4 May : Finally the PCB's arrive from Olimex. They look really nice and will take the pain out of soldering up the boards. It took me ony two hours to solder and test everything rather than the whole day it took me before. The finished article can be seen below.
April 2009
PCB Development
21 Apr: Contacted Lynn News, the local Kings Lynn paper, to put a reward out of one hundred pounds for the safe return of the payload. A couple of responses one of which sounded very promising. Unfortunately nothing came of the lead. Will go and investigate a field on next trip to Cambridge. In future there will be a letter enclosed in the payload explaining the project and offering a reward for safe return.
12 Apr : Launch 2 of Icarus II - Disaster ... Payload lost somewhere South of Kings Lynn see launch history for further details.
February 2009
Initial two way communications setup
Slim Jim antennas
January 2009
UK High Altitude Society have set up a competition for two way communication with the payload. Seve Randall (aka RocketBoy) and I have set up a team to compete for this. Current thinking is using a pair of modules from Radiometrix 100mW on 169.4MHz.
3 Jan: Launch Icarus II for more information see here .
31 Jan: Passed my intermediate licence for HAM radio new callsign 2E0RJH. The next step is to get the Advanced licence which I plan to take in June 2009. The next exam is in April but I think that it's a little optimistic to have learnt the syllabus by then, especially with the work needing to be done on Icarus.
December 2008
Icarus II
Temperature Sensor
RTTY
Lassen IQ
November 2008
1 Nov Passed my amateur radio foundation licence M6RJH
Icarus II
October 2008
Icarus I Launch
Ordered two more parachutes from Spherachute.
Found new supplier for Totex balloons in Belgium. Radar reflectors.
25 September 2008
Radio test
Updated camera firmware
Have found a new variant of CHDK called StereoData Maker (SDM). This is a light weight version of CHDK and it supports Kite Aerial Photography(KAP). Using this I can control the camera to run scripts by varying the length of the power pulse I send down the USB cable. NB The monitor is only accurate to about 10ms so significant variation and slowness is required for satisfactory results.