Pluto.edu.tw

https://youtu.be/HjGzyDvP9z0

https://launchwithpluto.com

Our Goals

Our goal is to create a complete and approachable curriculum for Taiwanese students that introduces related knowledge about HAB, and to design a syllabus which will become an open resource on the Internet because we believe everyone, regardless of gender and richness, has the right to “know.” Anyone who wants to understand this technology can refer to our materials for self-studying, and teachers can also design courses and even organize experiments based on our textbooks. Let knowledge not only exist in textbooks but permeate our lives!

What is our curriculum talking about？

Conditions of the high-altitude environment

We will explain the motion equation of the balloon during the ascent process. In addition, the lesson plan will also touch on the calculation of the parachute’s surface area at the final stage of the flight when the balloon is falling in order to meet the optimal terminal speed.

Introduction of High Altitude Balloon(HAB)

In order to give students a deeper understanding of HABs, the curriculum will also introduce all types of balloons, tasks they are able to perform, materials and components of the balloons, and details of how each component should be made. Furthermore, we will explain Arduino and circuit boards so that everyone can design their own flight computer and perform tasks they want to perform in the air probe. By DIYing the flight computer, the students can make their own unique HAB and reduce the cost significantly.

Flight prediction

Before the launch, students also need to be familiar with flight path prediction and customize the ideal lift-off conditions based on the weight of their HAB, the height they hope to reach, and the ascent speed. That way, all HABs can be launched at the best time and place, and be recovered according to the flight path we simulated in advance, hence improving the efficiency of recovery.

Ourteam utilizes the Scientific Balloon information provided by NASA as reference materials to develop the curriculum.

https://www.nasa.gov/scientificballoons/imagegallery

https://www.csbf.nasa.gov/mission.html

https://www.nasa.gov/scientificballoons

https://data.nasa.gov/dataset/Sub-Scale-Re-entry-Capsule-Drop-via-High-Altitude-/ssj2-iuw2

https://data.nasa.gov/dataset/Retrieving-Balloon-Data-in-Flight/pm48-gji9

https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/atmosmet.html

https://power.larc.nasa.gov/

We started early so that our results can be presented in the most detailed way. Although all those late-night meetings and discussions exhausted us, we still managed to come up with a sound curriculum plan for the challenge.

For most of us, it’s our first experience with HAB, so we had to start from zero and collect as much information as we possibly can. It wasn’t easy, but we learned many things that are not taught in class along the journey.

The overall experience is refreshing and remarkable. And to be honest, for first timers, we did pretty great! 

Website

https://www.cwb.gov.tw/V8/C/K/Encyclopedia/nous/overview_all.html 

https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/atmosmet.html 

http://habhub.org/calc/ 

https://www.findmespot.com/en-us/ 

https://www.nasa.gov/scientificballoons

http://www.zzxj.chemchina.com/xjzzy/index.htm

https://www.highaltitudescience.com/

https://www.stratoflights.com/en/

https://blogs.bath.ac.uk/engdes-student-insights/2018/10/17/choosing-a-balloon-parachute-and-going-for-launch-launching-a-high-altitude-balloon/

http://www.randomengineering.co.uk/

https://www.instructables.com/The-Easiest-Arduino-High-Altitude-Balloon-Data-Log/

https://launchwithus.com/

Paper

Aaron Ridley, Nathan Hamet, Jason Xie, Paul Webb. Flight Prediction Software for High Altitude Balloons

https://sites.wff.nasa.gov/code820/docs/outreach/BPO%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf

https://www.csbf.nasa.gov/documents/conventional/OF-300-11-H%20%20Rev%20A%20Flight%20app%20instructions%20DRAFT.pdf

#HAB, #Weather balloons, #Near space, #Education, #Lesson-plan, #BOM

This project has been submitted for consideration during the Judging process.