Ascent rate 4 to 6m/s - sources?

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Steven Boonstoppel

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Mar 14, 2026, 8:23:06 PM (10 hours ago) Mar 14

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Hi folks,

Steven here - Nick's "remote puppet" that makes perfectly fine vero boards: size doesn't matter. Only weight.

Anyhoo, I am making lesson materials around a HAB launch. All good and well, but I'm looking for some explanation around the recommended ascent rate of roughly 5 m/s. Surely it correlates with the average retrieve distance being pretty optimal versus the amount of data collected. But I've heard whispers about "aerodynamic stability". Now I would like to add some argument in my materials about why we are looking at 5m/s, and I'm lacking a somewhat physics-related explanation. Stable pics, sure, but why is it stable with this speed?

Does someone here have a useful source that has some high- or low-level explanation of this stability? Thank you very much in advance!