On Saturday morning at 9 am on March 2nd, 2024, we set up for student experiment payload practice flights in preparation for the total solar eclipse. This marked flights #86 and #87 for the NASA Nebraska Space Grant team.

We did not fly any of the the equipment for the NEBP streaming video balloon. Because we were not using the vent system and the Iridium, Derrick showed the students how to prepare the neck of the balloon “old school.” We have a piece of PVC in the neck of the balloon and secure the lines to the parachute with zip ties. We also used a simple fill tube rather than the quick connect version for filling the balloon through the vent.

For the tracking on the first balloon, we used the StratoStar SatCom system and an APRS beacon. This also had the Insta360 camera for testing and a solar panel experiment on board.

This was the second balloon with two experiment payload boxes – a UV sensor experiment and one prepared with paint in balloons for a combination engineering/art project. For the tracking on the second balloon, we used two SPOT locators, one provided by the national NEBP and one from the AXP club.

The first balloon was recovered in a suburb in Papillion by Derrick and Kendra. It landed not far from the sidewalk and was just a few miles from Michael and Kendra’s house.

The second balloon was recovered by a student recovery team in a field in Iowa.