Abstract

The High Altitude Student Platform (HASP) program is a Louisiana Spacegrant (LaSpace) and NASA Balloon Program Office (BPO) sponsored flight on a high altitude balloon at roughly 120,000 ft for 15 to 20 hours. The University of Maryland's Balloon Payload Program (BPP) developed a scientific payload, High Altitude Atmospheric Turbulence-Triggered Release Information Carrier (HAAT-TRIC), which is split into two major subgroups. The first subgroup, HAAT, measured high altitude flow velocities and temperatures with two thin-film anemometer probes extended from the payload. The data from HAAT will help better characterize clear air turbulence in the mid to upper stratosphere where little data currently exists, in an effort to aid the development of hypersonic vehicles that will operate at these altitudes. The other subgroup, TRIC, is a proof of concept data drop module that will store HAAT data until commanded to drop, severing all connections with the main payload and stored in a hanging net. An actual drop can be used on long duration balloon flights to receive data well before balloon termination and recovery.

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Upper Stratospheric Flow Velocities and Data Gathering

The High Altitude Student Platform (HASP) program is a Louisiana Spacegrant (LaSpace) and NASA Balloon Program Office (BPO) sponsored flight on a high altitude balloon at roughly 120,000 ft for 15 to 20 hours. The University of Maryland's Balloon Payload Program (BPP) developed a scientific payload, High Altitude Atmospheric Turbulence-Triggered Release Information Carrier (HAAT-TRIC), which is split into two major subgroups. The first subgroup, HAAT, measured high altitude flow velocities and temperatures with two thin-film anemometer probes extended from the payload. The data from HAAT will help better characterize clear air turbulence in the mid to upper stratosphere where little data currently exists, in an effort to aid the development of hypersonic vehicles that will operate at these altitudes. The other subgroup, TRIC, is a proof of concept data drop module that will store HAAT data until commanded to drop, severing all connections with the main payload and stored in a hanging net. An actual drop can be used on long duration balloon flights to receive data well before balloon termination and recovery.