Australian Amateur High Altitude Balloon Program
Mark Little
the Australian Space Research Institute (ASRI)
http://www.asri.org.au ,
the South Australian VHF Amateur Radio Group (SA-VHF Group)
contact via http://homepages.picknowl.com.au/vk5eme/minikits/index.html ;
and
the Australian Public Access Network Association, South Australia (APANA-SA)
http://sa.apana.org.au/ .
The program has the objective of launching a series of High Altitude Balloon
flights to develop Amateur Radio and aerospace expertise, as well as
providing community education.
Although this has not yet been formally accepted by the ASRI Board,
approval-in-principle has been given. The SA VHF Group and APANA-SA have
both agreed to participate. The recent movements in public liability
insurance have resulted in some uncertainty, but it hoped that this obstacle
can be overcome.
ASRI will be providing overall project management, launch vehicle, launch
infrastructure and scientific payloads; the South Australian VHF Group will
be providing all radio related equipment and operations; while APANA-SA will
be assisting with computer systems and networking expertise.
The South Australian VHF Group's prime objective is the design and testing
of various items of equipment suitable for launch in an Amateur
micro-satellite.
ASRI is currently engaged in another microsat development (JAESAT -
http://www.asri.org.au/ASRI/research/satellite/JAESAT/index.xml ) with a
launch date scheduled for late 2002.
ASRI has a wide range of space related programs and the balloon program
will provide it with a facility for testing payloads and recovery systems.
This will include flight computers, telemetry systems and the development
of parachutes and parasails for recovery of rockets and/or payloads.
For insurance reasons, all participants must be a member of the above
organisations, so if you are interested in this project, please contact the
group appropriate to your area of interest.
regards,
Mark Little
mailto:mli...@asri.org.au
mailto:ma...@sa.apana.org.au