Abstract

Developing a reliable and research grade tracking and communication link for high-altitude balloons and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites can be a daunting experience. Based on a decade of experience launching over 300 balloons a small but powerful all-in-one data and tracking product (EyePod and EyeStar) has been developed by NearSpace Launch Inc (NSL) to greatly simplify many balloon and satellite development programs. The goal of the EyePod-3 product is to streamline balloon platform launching and reduce costs while providing higher reliability for entry education and research group experiments and for developing more advance flight systems. The EyeStar for LEO satellites has recently been flight proven with the successful operation of the TSAT satellite (Spring 2014). The EyePod-3 implements the commercial Globalstar network of LEO satellites to communicate with balloons and also includes GPS, SD-card storage, experiment digital and analog inputs, wireless pod-to-pod communication, internal sensors, battery, tether line attachments, and a wireless cut-down mechanism. No ground station with tracking antenna is required. Another advantage of the EyePod-3 is the standardized Structured Query Language (SQL) database with GPS and sensors data (temperatures, pressure, turbulence accelerometers, light intensity, winds, ascent rates, and other derived quantities). The EyePod size is 7cm long band 10cm in diameter cylinder (“hockey puck”) and is now available from NSL with commercial FCC license, Value Added Reseller (VAR) protection, and data plans. As many institutions begin to use the EyePod a unique global data set will be available for study, for STEM learning, and for research data mining.

How to Cite:

Dailey, J. & Voss, H. D., (2014) “EyePod-3: An All-in-one Global Data & Tracking Module”, Academic High Altitude Conference 2014(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/ahac.5578